Anthony Albanese confirms he has US president Trump’s number

Anthony Albanese has managed to nab Donald Trump’s mobile number, drawing a line under criticisms that he has been unable to simply call the US President like some other world leaders.

The Prime Minister has had multiple encounters with Mr Trump over the past two weeks, meeting him at the White House and bumping into him at summits in Malaysia and South Korea.

After months of opposition jibes that he could not “pick up the phone and call” – as French President Emmanuel Macron sensationally did from a New York street corner in September – Mr Albanese confirmed on Sunday that they now had “contact arrangements”.

“We are able to contact each other … and that’s a good thing that we’re in contact with each other,” Mr Albanese told Sky News when asked about it.

Pressed if he felt “a bit of vindication”, Mr Albanese was hesitant to gloat, saying that he was “not a commentator”.

“I’ll leave that to others,” he said.

“I’ve said that the interactions I’ve had with President Trump from our first phone call have been very warm and positive.

“It was one of the first calls I got after the election on the May 3, and President Trump was can’t have been warmer, and we have developed a relationship.”

Asked point blank if he had Mr Trump’s number, he said: “Yeah, we have contact arrangements between each other.”

Mr Albanese smashed expectations during his official visit to the US last month, emerging from his first formal face-to-face with Mr Trump boasting a $13bn critical minerals deal, reassurances on AUKUS and praise from the president.

The result left the Coalition scrambling to find fodder to lob at Mr Albanese after accusing him of neglecting the Australia-US relationship since Mr Trump’s re-election.

While attending the APEC summit in South Korea, Mr Albanese was also one of just seven world leaders to attend a dinner with Mr Trump hosted by the South Korean President.