I don’t like you either, and I probably never will

“I don’t believe he should stay in that role,” Ley told Sky News on Tuesday.

“It took almost a year for this meeting to be held and it was the ambassador’s failure.

“And when the ambassador becomes the butt of the joke and the Prime Minister actually laughs at him, I think that tells us everything we need to know about the fact that it’s probably not reasonable for him to continue in office because there are matters of critical importance that need to be addressed.”

Rudd deleted critical comments about Trump from his online records after Trump’s election victory last year, including posts in which he condemned Trump as “the most destructive president in history” and described him as a “traitor to the West.”

Later the video emerged Rudd described Trump as the “village idiot” in 2021 before he was appointed to the ambassador post in December 2022.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong defended Rudd, claiming the president was joking. “We heard the laughter,” Wong said Today. “We know we had a very successful meeting.”

He said the ambassador deserves credit for the meeting. “He worked hard to ensure AUKUS was delivered and the submarines were delivered in line with our national interests,” Wong said.

Opposition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan said: “Rudd needs to be sacked immediately for his unprofessional comments about the US President. This jeopardizes the relationship between Australia and the US.”

Hogan said the success criterion was not met because Trump did not make any reduction in the 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum exports.

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“This is a huge disappointment for everyone who works in these industries,” Hogan said.

“The United Kingdom achieved this goal, Albania failed.”

Australia currently has the lowest equal overall tariff rate available.

Former US ambassador Arthur Sinodinos said Trump’s meeting with Rudd was a matter of “live by the sword, die by the sword”.

“Obviously, some of the things Kevin has said in the past have been addressed or reminded of by the president, and his views have been expressed very clearly,” Sinodinos said. Today to show.

“I don’t think that means Prime Minister Albanese is going to throw away the ambassador or anything like that.

“They are very close and it seems like he is bowing to the pressure to do this.”

Sinodinos said overall the meeting was “a very positive day for Australia”.

“It would be the worst signal that could be sent to Trump to fire our ambassador because he has criticized Trump in the past,” former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said last year.

Former Australian ambassador to Washington and defense ministry boss Dennis Richardson also backed Rudd remaining in office and said Trump’s vice-president JD Vance had made even harsher statements about the President before becoming an ally.

How did the Trump-Rudd trade turn out?

Correspondent: “There are some concerns in Australia, it took nine months to have this meeting. Have you had any concerns with this administration? About Palestine, its stance on climate change, or even what the Australian ambassador has said about you in the past?”

Embers: “I don’t know anything about him. If he said something bad, maybe he wants to apologize? Did an ambassador say something bad about me? Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

“Where is he? Does he still work for you?”

Albanese gestured across the table to Rudd, who said his comments, in which he also called Trump “a traitor to the West”, came before his current position as Australia’s ambassador to the US.

Embers: “I don’t love you either and I probably never will.”

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