Trump called this Australian billionaire a ‘red-haired weirdo’. Now, they’ve met again

Washington: Eighteen months ago, when a troubling story emerged alleging Donald Trump had disclosed sensitive information about US nuclear submarines to packaging magnate Anthony Pratt at Mar-a-Lago, Trump denied it and called the Australian billionaire a “red-haired weirdo”.

Now, Pratt is a US green card holder and – having just announced his company will invest billions of dollars in American manufacturing – scored an invitation to a White House ceremony, where the president described him as a friend.

Seated in the White House’s grand foyer on Wednesday, Washington time, about 80 dignitaries listened as Trump read through a list of business leaders who were contributing to US industry, like an emcee thanking donors at a charity ball.

“Executive global chairman of Pratt Industries, friend of mine, Anthony Pratt – he’s investing $US5 billion ($7.82 billion), thank you,” Trump said as Pratt stood in his blue suit, flashed his hand up in thanks, and sat down again.

Trump went on: “I read a report that he’s the richest man in Australia, but who the hell knows. Do you think you’re the richest man in Australia?”

Pratt stood up again, hesitated and gestured to indicate he wasn’t sure. “Close,” Trump assisted. “I don’t like to put you on the spot like that, Anthony, but that’s pretty good.”

According to the 2025 Forbes rich list, Pratt was the eighth-wealthiest person in Australia, though he is now US-based.

The new painting of President Donald Trump in the White House Grand Foyer.Credit: AP

The Australian billionaire spent the ceremony seated at the far end of the second row, mostly in silence. At one point, while waiting for the president to arrive, Pratt snapped a picture of a portrait of Barack Obama hanging near him on the wall.

That portrait was recently moved across the hall to make way for a new portrait of Trump, depicting him in the iconic photograph after being shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, bleeding and imploring the crowd to “fight, fight, fight” as he was taken off-stage.

Arranged around the president’s podium were products made by some of the corporations present, including Pratt cardboard boxes bearing US flags and “Invest in America” stickers.

Donald Trump was surrounded by products made by the assembled corporations, including Pratt Industries cardboard boxes.Credit: Bloomberg

Top business leaders in attendance included Nvidia boss Jensen Huang and GE Aerospace chief executive Larry Culp, as well as several members of Trump’s cabinet. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick shook Pratt’s hand and said a quick hello. Later, Pratt held an extended conversation with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Rollins appeared not to know Pratt at first, but when he explained who he was, she jumped back and exclaimed: “That’s you!” They went on to have a warm, animated conversation, and Pratt gave Rollins his business card.

Lutnick also passed by the assembled media and, when asked by this correspondent if he would strike a trade deal with Australia, indicated it was a matter for after the Australian election.

Earlier, Pratt said his planned US investment would create 5000 manufacturing jobs across the US in the rust belt states of Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and in Arizona in the south-west.

President Donald Trump in his first term with Anthony Pratt during the official opening of Pratt Industries’ Wapakoneta recycling and paper plant in Ohio in 2019.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“To make America great again, we need to make in America again,” he said. “That’s why I’m proud to support the president’s call to re-industrialise America and again make the US the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.”

Pratt and other business leaders later joined Trump in the Oval Office.

The 65-year-old, originally from Melbourne, has based himself in New York since obtaining permanent residency last year. Pratt Industries has 70 US factories producing recycled paper and cardboard boxes for customers such as Walmart, Home Depot and the US Postal Service.

Pratt has cultivated a relationship with the president and became a member of his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

As part of the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents, it was claimed that Trump shared potentially classified information about the US nuclear submarine fleet with Pratt during conversations at Mar-a-Lago in April 2021.

The information reportedly included the number of nuclear warheads carried by the boats and how close they could get to Russian counterparts without detection. When the claims were published in 2023, Trump called it “fake news” and said he never discussed submarines with “a red-haired weirdo from Australia”.

Reporting by this masthead and 60 Minutes subsequently revealed a history of Trump disclosing information to Pratt, including boasting in 2019 about having just bombed Iraq before the operation was publicised.

“He’s outrageous,” Pratt said of Trump on secret tapes obtained by this masthead. “He just says whatever the f--- he wants, and he loves to shock people.”

In 2019, while president, Trump attended the opening of a Pratt paper mill in Ohio along with then Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. “Anthony is one of the most successful men in the world – perhaps Australia’s most successful man,” Trump said at the time.

Pratt’s White House visit comes as new data showed the US economy contracted 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, primarily caused by a sharp increase in imports as businesses rushed to get ahead of Trump’s tariffs. Imports detract from growth in the way the US Commerce Department calculates gross domestic product.

Consumer spending grew by 1.8 per cent, though that was markedly down from the 2024 average of 3.4 per cent.

Spending by foreigners travelling in the US for business, leisure and education also plunged. “This presumably reflects increased hostility by many foreigners to the US, as well as fear of harassment by ICE officers,” said the Centre for Economic and Policy Research.

The White House blamed predecessor Joe Biden for GDP going backwards. “It’s no surprise the leftovers of Biden’s economic disaster have been a drag on economic growth,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump said core GDP, with the “distortions” of imports and government spending stripped out, grew by 3 per cent. “But this is Biden’s economy … and I think you have to give us just a little bit of time to get moving.”

He also dismissed concerns about the effect of his tariffs on Chinese products bought by American consumers.

“Somebody said, ‘Oh the shelves are going to be open’,” Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. Maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally. But we’re not talking about something that we have to go out of our way [to avoid].”

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