Trump Snubs Albanese: US President Ignores Aussie PM’s Plea for Meeting Amid Tensions Over Palestine
- Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite claims it’s a ‘good thing’ Anthony Albanese failed to secure a meeting with Donald Trump
- Trump will instead meet with leaders of Ukraine, Argentina, and the European Union, snubbing Albanese amidst tensions over Palestine
- Albanese held seven meetings with other world leaders, including a ‘wonderful’ 40-minute chat with French President Emmanuel Macron
- Thistlethwaite suggests the lack of a meeting between Albanese and Trump shows the relationship between Australia and the US is ‘strong’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been dealt a diplomatic blow after failing to secure a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the United Nations summit in New York. Despite his best efforts, Albanese was left out in the cold as Trump opted to meet with other world leaders instead.
But in a bizarre twist, Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite has attempted to spin the snub as a positive, claiming it’s a ‘good thing’ that Albanese didn’t meet with Trump. Thistlethwaite suggested that the failure to land a meeting with Trump meant that Australia was effectively out of mind, out of sight when it came to tough trade talks.
‘I think we should see this as a good thing,’ Thistlethwaite told Sky News on Tuesday. ‘It means that the president, who’s been meeting with world leaders to try and reach agreements on trade policy, he’s trying to do deals with other nations around tariffs and trade policy. He doesn’t need to do that with Australia.’
Thistlethwaite’s comments come as tensions between Australia and the US simmer over Palestine. Trump recently lashed out at Australia for voting to recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN, claiming it ‘does nothing to release the hostages’ and ‘rewards Hamas’.
Despite the setback, Albanese held seven meetings with other world leaders, including a ‘wonderful’ 40-minute chat with French President Emmanuel Macron. The PM took to social media to praise Macron’s leadership, captioning a picture of the two leaders shaking hands: ‘Thank you for your leadership driving the Two-State Solution Conference today, and in the Coalition of the Willing in support of Ukraine.’
The White House confirmed overnight that Albanese was not one of the extensive world leaders Trump was due to meet this week on the sidelines of the UN summit. Instead, Trump will hold talks with the UN Secretary-General and the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina, and the European Union, before joining a major multilateral session with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Türkiye, Pakistan, Egypt, the UAE, and Jordan.