Albo’s High-Stakes Gamble: PM Faces ‘Delicate Dance’ with Trump in White House Showdown
- Anthony Albanese to meet Donald Trump on October 20 in Washington, after months of delays and snubs
- PM faces ‘high-risk’ meeting with potential for conflict over defence spending, tariffs, and climate change
- Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley slams Albanese for ‘disappointingly’ allowing Australia-US relationship to drift
Anthony Albanese is set to face a “delicate dance” when he meets Donald Trump at the White House on October 20, with the Prime Minister under pressure to secure tangible outcomes for Australia while navigating a minefield of potential conflicts.
The meeting comes after months of delays and snubs, with Trump leaving Albanese out in the cold on multiple occasions. The PM has been angling for a bilateral meeting with the President since June, but it wasn’t until this week that the White House confirmed the October 20 meeting.
Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley has slammed Albanese for “disappointingly” allowing the Australia-US relationship to drift, saying the PM has taken three times as long to secure a face-to-face meeting with Trump as his predecessors Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison.
“It’s pleasing to see the PM finally lock in a proper face-to-face meeting with the President, but there’s a lot riding on this meeting,” Ley told news.com.au. “The PM needs to walk out with an assurance on AUKUS, greater protections for Australian jobs from US tariffs, and a reiteration of the importance of the Quad.”
But experts warn that the meeting is fraught with risk, with Brendon O’Connor, professor of US politics and US foreign relations, saying that Albanese faces a “pretty high-risk thing” in Washington.
“When the bilateral talks at the UN didn’t go ahead, I would have taken that as a sign and not searched for the Washington meeting,” O’Connor said. “It comes with some risks – and it could also be cancelled. If there’s an important event in the US that day, it could be off again.”
O’Connor also warned that Trump may push for Australia to increase its defence expenditure, which could lead to a “challenging conversation” with Albanese. The PM has said he won’t be dictated to on defence spending, but the issue is likely to be a major point of contention.
Australia’s trade surplus with the US is one area where the PM may be able to find common ground with Trump, but O’Connor said that Albanese needs to be careful not to get too cosy with the President.
“Australians have some of the most negative attitudes in the world towards the US, so the pair shouldn’t be seen as too close together,” O’Connor said.
Albanese’s meeting with Trump is set to be a major test of his diplomatic skills, and one that could have significant implications for Australia’s relationship with its closest ally.