President Donald Trump slammed Australian Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd, who once called Trump “a village idiot,” during Monday’s bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the left-wing Labor Party.
A reporter asked Trump if he had concerns about the Albanese administration’s positions on climate change, Gaza, or Rudd’s comments about him.
Trump hails ‘friend’ Albanese as he tells Rudd ‘I don’t like you’
US President Donald Trump has hailed his friendship with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during talks at the White House despite an awkward moment involving ambassador Kevin Rudd.
The two leaders signed an agreement on rare earth and critical minerals during what US officials billed as a bilateral lunch in the White House cabinet room.
“This is an $8.5 billion pipeline that we have ready to go,” Albanese said while signing the deal as Trump noted it had been negotiated over a period of four or five months.
Its over for KRudd
There are calls for Kevin Rudd to be stripped of his role as Australia’s US Ambassador after Donald Trump ripped into him. DETAILS: https://bit.ly/4o5off2
Continued:
The agreement involved the processing of minerals, and includes joint investments between the US and Australia, projects in Australia and other joint projects.
Australia and the US States will invest about $US3 billion ($A4.6 billion) in critical mineral projects within six months, the White House said.
The US government will also invest in a refinery for the critical mineral gallium in Western Australia.
The prime minister was joined by Resources Minister Madeleine King and Industry Minister Tim Ayres during his visit.
The US president was enthusiastic in his praise for Albanese during the meeting.
“It’s a great honour to have you as my friend,” Trump said.
“It’s a great honour to have you in the United States of America.”
That was tongue in cheek.
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Albanese praised the US-Australia relationship and said Trump’s work on a Middle East ceasefire was “an extraordinary achievement”.
The prime minister went into the meeting hoping to gain assurances the US would not curtail the AUKUS trilateral security agreement, which would deliver Australia nuclear submarines.
The more than $300 billion agreement had been under review by the US Defense Department to ensure it aligned with the “America first” agenda of Trump’s administration.
US Navy Secretary John Phelan told the meeting the US and Australia were working very closely to improve the original AUKUS framework for all three parties, which includes the UK, “and clarify some of the ambiguity that was in the prior agreement”.
Asked about the AUKUS submarine deal, Mr Trump said of Australia “they’re getting them”.
Asked by a reporter about Australia’s US ambassador Kevin Rudd’s past criticism of Trump, the US president responded: “I don’t know anything about him. If he said bad, then maybe he’d like to apologise?”.
“Did an ambassador say something bad about me?” he asked Albanese before waving his hand and saying “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know”.
“Where is he? Is he still working for you?,” Trump asked.
Albanese pointed to Rudd on the opposite side of the table.
Rudd said it was before he was in his current position as Australian envoy to the US.
“I don’t like you either, and I probably never will,” Trump said.
Trump said Albanese had invited him to visit Australia and that he was giving the offer serious consideration.
The White House meeting is the first time the leaders have held formal bilateral talks and is the sixth time Albanese has spoken with the US president since he was re-elected in November.
Four of those occasions have been over the phone, while the pair met in person for the first time at a reception hosted by Trump during the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.