Donald Trump was quick to slap down an member of the Australian delegation who had been critical of him before taking the job as he hosted the nation’s diplomats at the White House today.
In what was otherwise a chummy meeting, the President got curt with US Ambassador Kevin Rudd when he found out that he said ‘bad’ things about him.
Asked by Sky News whether he has any concerns with Anthony Albanese’s administration, including Rudd’s past comments, Trump said, ‘I don’t know anything about him. If you say bad, then maybe he’d like to apologize. I really don’t know.’
‘Did an ambassador say something bad?’ Trump questioned as he turned to the Australian Prime Minister sitting beside him in the Cabinet Room. ‘Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know,’ he joked, as Albanese acknowledged that Rudd did.
Trump then snapped: ‘Where is he? Is he still working for you?’
Albanese nodded and pointed across the table at Rudd, prompting laughs from those in the room.
Trump then asked the ambassador if he said ‘bad’ things about him.
‘Before I took this position, Mr President,’ said Rudd, who previously served as Australia’s prime minister.
‘I don’t like you either, and I probably never will,’ Trump shot back.
Donald Trump snapped at Australia’s US ambassador for being critical of him during a Cabinet Room meeting Monday. He is seen with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left)
The President said he would ‘never’ like Australia’s ambassador to the US, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (fifth from left, circled), upon learning he had said critical things about him
At the top of the session, Trump and Albanese signed the framework of a critical minerals deal, which the US could use to help combat China in the technological arena.
‘We got it done just in time for the visit,’ the President said. ‘And we work together very much on rare earths, critical minerals and lots of other things, and we’ve had a very good relationship. We’ve been working on that for quite a while.’
Albanese has been critical of Trump in the past – but it was all pleasantries when they met as the Australian prime minister flattered the President for his foreign policy initiatives, including the tenuous Middle East peace deal.
In turn, Trump mocked his predecessor, Joe Biden – who had a warm rapport with Albanese when he first came into office.
Before bringing Albanese into the Cabinet Room, Trump showed him his ‘Presidential Walk of Fame,’ which trolls Biden by depicting the Democrat as an autopen.
Once inside the meeting, Albanese invited Trump to come to Australia, which the President said he would ‘consider.’
Trump said he had previously visited the country and golfed there.
Biden pulled out of his planned trip to Australia in 2023 to return to Washington, DC, as Congress was holding negotiations over lifting the debt ceiling.
Trump greets Albanese (right) outside the West Wing on Monday in what was a mostly chummy meeting, with the pair signing the framework of a critical minerals deal
Trump has been slow to get a meeting with Albanese scheduled, despite the countries being close allies and Australia’s involvement in the AUKUS submarine deal.
The US President was supposed to meet with Albanese on the sidelines of the G7 summit in June in Canada – but Trump cut his appearance short and rushed back to America to deal with fighting between Israel and Iran.
The two men met briefly at an event at the UN General Assembly last month, but Monday’s trip to the White House officially marked the two leaders’ first meeting.
In the Cabinet Room, Trump brought along Vice-President JD Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.
