Trump Told Australia’s PM They Would Have a ‘Perfect Friendship’

Ben Westcott
·2-min read

(Bloomberg) -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said President-elect Donald Trump told him they would have a “perfect friendship” during a phone call after the US election, even as questions mount over whether Australia’s ambassador to Washington can remain in his post.

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Albanese said Tuesday that he’d had a “terrific discussion” with the president-elect, framing it as a “good beginning” with Trump.

“He described the relationship, that we would have a perfect friendship,” Albanese said at a press conference in the state of Tasmania. “I’m very confident that the relationship between Australia and the US will continue to be very strong.”

The center-left Labor government worked hard to establish ties with the Trump camp ahead of the presidential election, aiming to ensure Australia maintained a close bond with its largest security partner. In particular, Canberra wants Trump to stick to a US commitment to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under the Aukus partnership.

However, past negative comments about the president-elect from Albanese’s Labor team have threatened to overshadow those efforts.

Kevin Rudd, the current ambassador to the US and a former Labor prime minister, is in the spotlight following Trump’s election win. Rudd announced last week that he had deleted a series of negative social media posts about the president-elect, in which he had called Trump a “traitor to the West” and the “most destructive president in history.”

Rudd made the comments in a former role as a commentator on international politics and foreign policy.

Albanese and his government have defended Rudd and said he would remain as Australia’s ambassador in Washington for the foreseeable future.

However, in a post to the social media website X on Tuesday, Trump adviser Dan Scavino Jr. put an image of an hourglass in response to Rudd’s post congratulating the president-elect on his victory.

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