EDITORIAL: Rudd’s red face a small price to pay for US success
Get Donald Trump to put his sharpie to a critical minerals deal, extract an endorsement of the AUKUS pact and get the hell out without too much embarrassment.
The first two parts of Anthony Albanese’s mission to the White House couldn’t have gone smoother.
Australia and the US have now inked a major new deal which see billions poured into critical minerals and rare earths projects across the continent.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.On AUKUS, President Trump said Australia would be getting its nuclear-powered submarines as negotiated under his predecessor Joe Biden. The project was going “full steam ahead”, Mr Trump said.
Embarrassment? There was plenty. But thankfully, it belonged solely to Ambassador Kevin Rudd. From Mr Albanese’s perspective, a small price to pay.
The President made Mr Rudd pay for his comments — made during the Biden interregnum and prior to his ambassadorship — besmirching him as a “village idiot” and a “traitor to the West”, among other things.
Asked if his relationship with Mr Rudd was a factor in the delay in meeting with Mr Albanese, Mr Trump affected not to “know anything about him”.
“If he said bad (things) maybe he would like to apologise,” Mr Trump said, before asking Mr Albanese if the errant ambassador was still in his employ.
When told the man in question was seated at the table across from him, the President took the opportunity to address Mr Rudd directly.
“You said bad (things)?”
“I don’t like you either. And I probably never will.”
It was truly excruciating stuff.
The Opposition has leapt on the exchange as evidence that Mr Rudd’s position in Washington is untenable.
But according to the PM’s staff, once the news cameras were out of the room, Mr Trump accepted an apology from Mr Rudd. It’s all water under the nuclear-powered submarines now.
Even if Mr Trump does resent Mr Rudd, that resentment didn’t get in the way of the Ambassador securing the meeting for his boss and getting these crucial deals done.
On those counts, Mr Rudd did exactly what he needed to do.
He was helped of course, by the fact that Australia had plenty to bring to the table — massive reserves of the critical minerals that the US is desperate to get its hands on, and a position as a partner in the Pacific to act as a foil to an increasingly belligerent China.
Mr Trump hates pisstakers, but he loves winning — and winners — more.
In Mr Albanese, he sees a winner; a leader with a thumping majority and a commanding grip on his own authority.
By sitting back, letting Mr Trump take the lead and having a laugh at Mr Rudd’s expense, Mr Albanese played his role perfectly.
After a stuttering start, it was a great leap forward in the pair’s personal relationship. Hopefully, the PM got the President’s phone number so they can build on that relationship over WhatsApp.
