Trump pulls out of G7 ahead of Albo meeting
Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Donald Trump is now uncertain as the US President leaves the G7 summit early.
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US President Donald Trump is departing the G7 before his scheduled meeting with Anthony Albanese.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the bombshell announcement moments after Mr Albanese told reporters he was looking forward to his meeting with Mr Trump.
“President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer,” Ms Leavitt wrote.
“Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State.”
It is unclear whether the two leaders will be able to reschedule a meeting tonight before the President returns to Washington DC.
It is unclear when and how Mr Albanese learned the US President was leaving.
Mr Albanese had just wrapped up a press conference in Calgary and his motorcade was pulling away when Ms Leavitt made the announcement on X.
Moments before the announcement, Mr Albanese revealed he had sought advice from Australians including US Ambassador Kevin Rudd and golf legend Greg Norman ahead of the meeting.
“I always prep seriously for meetings where I’m representing Australia,” Mr Albanese said.
“I’ve just been through a test — it’s called a federal election.”
He said Mr Rudd, who had been at the forefront of trade negotiations, had offered helpful advice.
“I of course have engaged with Ambassador Rudd as one, for example, who has, I think, an extraordinary capacity in terms of his skills and knowledge of the United States system,” Mr Albanese said.
“I’ve engaged with others as well across the political spectrum.
“I’ve engaged with people like Greg Norman, I was in contact with him in the last week as well, and I’ve engaged as much as possible, because I think that I have a great responsibility, and I take that responsibility seriously, and I look forward to tomorrow’s meeting.”
It came just after Mr Trump offered his most positive indication on the future of AUKUS to date, standing alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as the British leader declared “we’re proceeding with” the pact.
“It’s a really important deal to both of us,” Sir Keir said.
Mr Trump did not dispute the declaration, telling reporters “we’re very long-time partners and allies and friends”.
“He’s slightly more liberal than I am but for some reason we get along.”
It comes amid a review by the Pentagon into the future of the trilateral defence pact.
Mr Trump is taking the art of the deal to the G7 Summit in Calgary where he’s confident his bilateral sideline meetings with world leaders from Australia, Japan and Canada could result in trade agreements.
It’s a promising signal for Mr Albanese who will meet with the US President on Wednesday morning Australian time in what will be both of their final engagements of the global leaders’ meetings.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Jay-myung has made a cheeky dig in his first face-to-face encounter with Mr Albanese, telling the Prime Minister he looks much younger in person than he sounds on the phone.
The two leaders met for the first time on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada on Tuesday Australian time.
Before heading into their closed-door bilateral meeting, the leaders briefly spoke to reporters about the ties between the two countries.
“We had a phone call a few days ago and you look much younger and good looking than I imagined from your voice,” President Jay-myung told Mr Albanese.
The PM said he looked forward to the APEC summit in South Korea next month to strengthen economic ties.
“In just a short time we will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula, where Australians, very much fought and sacrificed for the freedom of the Republic of Korea,” Mr Albanese said.
“Since then, we have built a very important economic relationship, a relationship of further defence co-operation and a relationship between our people.”
Mr Jay-myung said his country relied on Australia’s natural resource exports and he looked forward to strengthening those economic ties.
“So we already have a close and very cooperative relationship, and I believe that we can still work together to develop this already strong partnership…,” he said.
“I personally love the beauty of the Australian landscape, so I really look forward to having another opportunity to visit your beautiful country.”
ALBO MEETS CANADIAN PM
Mr Albanese touched down in Calgary on Monday AEST before heading straight to a bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, where the pair discussed war in the Middle East, strengthening defence ties and the climate crisis fuelling bushfires seasons in both countries.
En route to the event from Washington, Mr Trump, who is falling well short of his bid to strike 90 deals in 90 days on tariffs, told reporters the US dictated terms of trade deals by sending letters telling other countries what levies they would pay.
“But I think we’re going to have a few new trade deals, yeah,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Albanese brushed off questions about the potential for a volatile meeting with the President who has publicly sparred with other world leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
He said he looked forward to a constructive and respectful dialogue that focused on Australia-US relations including carve outs against the “economic self harm” of tariffs and the continuation of the AUKUS defence deal.
“We’ve got a few things to talk about,” he said.
It followed a bilateral meeting with Canadian PM Mark Carney who presented Mr Albanese with a Stetson cowboy hat and a bear sculpture from a local artist.
The Australian PM in turn gifted his counterpart an Akubra and framed memorabilia from the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia from the movie Gallipoli – Mr Carney’s favourite film.
“We did discuss deepening defence engagement, including Canada’s proposed procurement of Australian over-the-horizon radar technology,” Mr Albanese said of the meeting.
“I think that Australia always has a case for maximising our defence and security relationships in what is an uncertain world.”
It was the second time the two Prime Ministers have come face-to-face after their first meeting on the sidelines of Pope Leo’s inauguration in May.
Mr Carney reiterated the strong ties between two countries, particularly in Australia’s deployment of almost 100 Australian firefighters helping battle wildfires still raging in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
“And once again, as Australians always do, and you always do, have stepped up,” Mr Carney said.
On Monday, Mr Albanese will meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to reiterate Australia’s support for the Ukraine in its war with Russia.
He will also meet with President of the Republic of Korea Lee Jae-myung about Indo-Pacific security, energy and trade.
Mr Trump will meet with Mr Carney on Monday and also has bilaterals scheduled with Mr Zelensky, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba.
Mr Albanese will seek to strengthen defence ties as he meets with other leaders and said part of his discussion with Mr Carney focused on Canada’s proposed procurement of Australian radar technology.
“We did discuss deepening defence engagement, including Canada’s proposed procurement of Australian over-the-horizon radar technology,” he said.
“I welcome Canada’s interest in procuring Australia’s world leading technology, and look forward to our respective teams prioritising this work.”
Mr Albanese is also expected to discuss a Security and Defence Partnership with the European Union leaders when they meet on Tuesday that could lead to increased collaboration on counter-terrorism, defence and technology.
“I think that Australia always has a case for maximising our defence and security relationships in what is an uncertain world,” Mr Albanese said.
“I think what’s clear is that in the uncertain world, what people are looking for is certainty in relationships, trusted relationships.”
Originally published as Trump pulls out of G7 ahead of Albo meeting