EDITORIAL: Pressure on as countdown to Trump sit-down starts

Assuming he’s not stood up again, Anthony Albanese’s long awaited meeting with Donald Trump will go ahead October 20, exactly nine months after the President’s inauguration in January.

It’s a long time for the Prime Minister to go without a formal catch-up with the man who holds Australia’s security fate in his hands.

But it won’t be the pair’s first face-to-face meeting. That boil was lanced overnight when Mr Albanese finally spoke to Mr Trump in person at a function the President hosted to welcome leaders to the UN General Assembly in New York.

How will Mr Albanese be received by Mr Trump at their White House sit-down? With this President, it’s impossible to predict. Friends can become enemies and enemies friends on a dime.

Comments made by Mr Trump about briefly meeting with Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with whom he has been sparring in recent months over tariffs and the conviction of Lula’s predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, provide some insight.

“He seemed like a very nice man, actually,” Mr Trump said of the “20 second” exchange during which they agreed to a formal meeting next week.

“He liked me, I liked him. And I only do business with people I like. When I don’t like them, I don’t like them.”

Mr Trump then went on to pillory the Brazilian Government for its economic policies.

Getting the Trump tick of approval is clearly advantageous, especially when there’s “business” to be done.

With the future of the AUKUS deal far from certain and China making in-roads into Australia’s turf in the Pacific, there’s plenty of that.

Mr Trump’s speech to the General Assembly, in which he aired a laundry list of grievances including efforts to combat climate change (which he called “the greatest con job” ) and moves by Western nations to recognise a Palestinian state, indicate potential points of tension.

Thankfully, Mr Albanese has some instructive examples on how he can navigate that. Other leaders who share Mr Albanese’s leftist worldview, such as UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have successfully walked that tightrope.

Mr Trump has repeatedly referred to Sir Keir as a “friend,” despite steep divergences in policy and ideology between the two.

Mr Macron didn’t hesitate to whip out his phone to call the President directly to laugh about being stuck in traffic caused by the expected arrival of the American motorcade to the UN headquarters.

Meanwhile, Mr Albanese resumed his game of silly buggers when reminded of his bizarre claim in April that Mr Trump didn’t own a mobile phone, rewriting history to deny ever saying such a thing, before changing his story to claim he did so in jest.

If a whole-hearted endorsement of AUKUS is too much to expect from the October meeting, then perhaps Mr Albanese can settle for extracting the Don’s digits so he, like Mr Macron, can get in touch with the most powerful man with a few taps of an iPhone.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.