‘A lot of acronyms’: Anthony Albanese downplays Trump forgetting about AUKUS

Anthony Albanese has downplayed an embarrassing gaffe from US President Donald Trump where Australia’s nearly $400bn AUKUS deal with US got awkward.

Anthony Albanese has down played an embarrassing gaffe from Donald Trump where he forgot what an almost $400bn defence pact with Australia stands for.

The US president raised eyebrows when he told reporters “What does that mean?” when asked about the AUKUS submarine deal.

Mr Albanese on Friday said there are “a lot of acronyms in this business” when asked about Mr Trump’s lack of awareness about the major deal with Australia and the UK.

“There’s a lot of acronyms in this business and, you know, we all get thrown them from time to time,” he said.

“Donald Trump went on (and spoke) about the really important and positive relationship with Australia. 

US president Donald Trump, left, and Australian PM Anthony Albanese, right. Pictures: Getty Images/Supplied

“That is consistent with the discussions that I’ve had with president Trump that included, of course, talking about AUKUS, which we spoke about during our discussions.”

Mr Albanese also stood by his government’s response to a Chinese flotilla that has been making its way around Australia conducting live fire exercises.

“They are being shadowed by the Anzac frigate, HMAS Stewart, (and) these Chinese vessels have been monitored and shadowed by Australian or New Zealand the entire time they have been off the coast,” he said.

“We believe it was appropriate to have been given more notice and we made that clear last Friday … We acknowledge as well that it is within international law, you cannot selectively support international law. 

“The Chinese actions are within that but we’ve made a very clear that we expect more notice to have been given and we have protested and made our position clear that more notice should have been given.”

$25M SOLAR PANEL FUND

The comments came at a press conference where Mr Albanese announced that apartment owners will be able to get government funding for solar panels under a new federal-state investment from Labor.

Mr Albanese announced the new $25m package alongside NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe.

“This is a fantastic program, it adds to the suite of measures we have introduced as a government since 2022,” he said.

“We have approved enough renewable energy projects to power eight million homes across Australia.”

Mr Albanese used the climate policy to attack the Liberals over recent comments from a federal candidate that the coalition would abandon the Paris climate agreement.

apartment owners will be able to get government funding for solar panels under a new federal-state investment

Former NSW transport minister and Liberal candidate for Gilmore Andrew Constance told a candidates forum that the Coalition would abandon the agreement if elected.

He later walked back those comments but not before Labor and the Teals seized on them.

Mr Albanese said Mr Dutton has no plan for energy security.

“Peter Dutton’s so called plan is not good for energy, it’s not good for households, it’s not good for the environment.”

Originally published as ‘A lot of acronyms’: Anthony Albanese downplays Trump forgetting about AUKUS