PM Anthony Albanese lands back in Australia after Trump trip
Anthony Albanese has landed in Australia, drawing the curtains on his two-day official visit to the United States.
The Prime Minister spent more time in the air than on the ground visiting Donald Trump at the White House.
But it would be Everest’s duty to return home boasting of a long list of achievements, including the opposition’s demands, to argue that it was not worth it.
‘We love them’
Mr Albanese had his first official face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump since the US President’s historic second White House victory in just over a year.
Mr. Trump could not have hoped for a better catch as he greeted her at the West Wing entrance.
“President Trump, what is your message to the Australian people?” an American reporter shouted from a distance.
“We love them,” Mr. Trump shouted back.
Internally, Mr Trump’s praise for Australia and Mr Albanese grew louder when they announced the landmark critical minerals deal worth billions of dollars in the Cabinet Room.
“It’s great to have Australia as Prime Minister, it’s a great place,” Mr. Trump told reporters.
“There are a lot of friends there, and this is one of them.”
He described Mr Albanese as “hugely respected”.
“(He) did very well in the election, and I heard you were very popular today, right?” he said, turning to face his Australian guest.
“It changes from day to day for all of us. But he’s done a great job as prime minister.”
Their first media appearance together confirmed the “very warm relationship” Mr Albanese had claimed for months.
This change even earned him praise from international audiences; a French diplomat from NewsWire called Mr. Albanese “a super géré”; he handled this situation well.
Two US State Department sources agree.
‘It is an honor to sign’
Leaders signed a critical minerals framework aimed at creating a reliable supply chain; This was a move that directly challenged China’s global market dominance.
Under the agreement, both Canberra and Washington will pump north of $3 billion to rapidly increase Australia’s production and processing of critical minerals to feed the US’s voracious defense and technology sectors.
The funding will launch an estimated US$8.5 billion pipeline of priority projects in both Australia and the US.
NewsWire understands that the details were finalized just hours before it was signed, and officials worked late into the night to prepare it.
Mr. Trump said it was “negotiated over a period of four or five months” and noted that “it’s good timing that we do this right in time for the visit.”
Both leaders praised the agreement, which Mr Albanese said was about “seizing the opportunities before us to take our relationship to the next level”.
Mr. Trump said it was “an honor to sign this.”
Asked by the media “what will happen to China” if Australia continues its attempts to sabotage critical mineral and rare earth miners, Mr Trump said he would impose eye-watering tariffs that would effectively destroy China’s ability to export to the US.
‘I’m taking them’
Mr. Trump has vowed that his administration will not only honor its AUKUS commitments but also accelerate the delivery of three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines promised under the $368 billion defense deal.
The Pentagon’s review of the decades-old deal, which includes the UK, has led to concerns the deal could be canceled because submarine production in the US is stagnant.
But Mr. Trump brushed aside the concerns.
“We actually have a lot of submarines,” he said.
“We have the best submarines anywhere in the world, and several more are currently under construction.”
He said that “everything is ready with Anthony.”
“We’ve worked long and hard on this, and we’re starting that process right now, and I think it’s going really well, really quickly,” he said.
Asked if he could guarantee Australia would get the promised American-made boats, Mr Trump said: “Oh, it does. Oh no, they do.”
Mr. Trump also said he believed AUKUS was a “deterrent” for China, but cautioned against it, saying, “I don’t think we’ll need it.”
“I think we will be on good terms with China,” Mr. Trump said.
‘All is forgiven’
The only volatile moment in their media appearances was Mr Trump’s sensational attack on ambassador Kevin Rudd.
Before becoming Australia’s ambassador to Washington, Mr Rudd described Mr Trump as a “village fool” and a “traitor to the West”.
Mr. Trump was asked whether he was concerned about past comments as part of a broader question about sticking points with the Albanian government.
He ignored other issues mentioned, such as Mr Albanese’s recognition of Palestine, and focused on Mr Rudd.
“I don’t know anything about him,” Mr. Trump said.
“If he said it badly, maybe he’ll want to apologize.”
He turned to Mr. Albanese next to him.
“I really don’t know, did an ambassador say something bad about me?” he asked.
“Don’t tell me. Where is he? Does he still work for you?”
Mr Albanese gestured towards Mr Rudd, who was sitting across the Cabinet Room table.
“Did you say bad?” Mr. Trump asked the former prime minister.
“Before I took up this post, Mr. President,” Mr. Rudd replied.
“I don’t like you either, I don’t like you, and I probably never will,” Mr. Trump responded, before continuing.
The speech, which seemed more humorous than confrontational, sparked laughter throughout the room, including Mr. Albanese.
NewsWire understands Mr Rudd later took the opportunity to apologize to Mr Trump for his past criticism.
At a news conference the next day, Mr. Albanese said Mr. Trump had said “all is forgiven.”
Opposition leader Sussan Ley tried to jump on the incident by calling for Mr Rudd to be sacked, before pushing back her comments after a member of her own party described the comments as “petulant”.
‘same page’
Mr. Albanese also held private meetings with senior members of the Trump administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He refused to go into details of their lengthy conversation at a press conference at the Australian embassy before leaving, but insisted they were “on the same page”.
“We talked about AUKUS, we talked about Australia’s relationship,” Mr Albanese said.
“We talked about a range of international issues, but this was a private discussion and some of it was just anecdotal.”
He added that they talked about “its relationship with the USA” and “Australia’s position in the Indo-Pacific”.
“One of the things about our country is that we do our part, and frankly the United States is the most powerful country in the world, which puts it in a unique position,” Mr. Albanese said.
“Australia is also an important country.”
‘We stood side by side’
Before leaving, Mr. Albanese and Mr. Rudd attended a breakfast event with dozens of Republican and Democratic congressmen at Blair House, the presidential guesthouse.
Mr Albanese took the opportunity to speak to his envoy.
“I want to thank him personally for the work he has done,” Mr. Albanese said of Mr. Rudd.
“If there is an ambassador on The Hill who works harder, please let me know because Kevin goes the extra mile and seems to know everything.”
He also praised Australia-US relations, telling the Meeting of Friends of Australia that Australia has “no greater friend or ally than the United States”.
“For over 100 years, we have stood side by side in good times and bad,” Mr. Albanese said.
He also visited the U.S. Capitol and met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and members of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees.
