AUKUS submarine deal gets royal approval from King Charles at opulent state banquet with Donald Trump

Dressed in formal regalia, King Charles delivered the AUKUS pitch Anthony Albanese has wanted to drive home face-to-face with Donald Trump for months.

“Our AUKUS submarine partnership with Australia sets the benchmark for innovative and vital collaboration,” the King said during a state banquet speech overnight in honour of the visiting US President.

“In two world wars, we fought together to defeat the forces of tyranny. Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine to deter aggression and secure peace,” the monarch added.

While AUKUS was receiving a Royal endorsement, supporters of the Australia-UK-US partnership had been dotted around the Windsor Castle guest list — including BAE Systems boss Charles Woodburn whose company is a multi-billion-dollar beneficiary.

The British defence giant is the lead designer for Australia’s future SSN-AUKUS submarine fleet which is planned to be eventually built in Adelaide and delivered sometime during the 2040s.

Over recent months Australia has been facing growing US pressure to lift defence spending and has been nervously watching a Pentagon review of AUKUS which could complicate the earlier delivery of second-hand Virginia-class submarines next decade.

Those anxieties haven’t been eased by Mr Albanese’s inability so far to secure an in-person catch-up with Mr Trump.

In June, the pair had been slated to meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, but that was cancelled by the President who left early for a Pentagon briefing on the US strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Sources familiar with recent discussions inside the White House remain upbeat about the likelihood of a friendly first face-to-face meeting between Mr Albanese and Donald Trump next week in New York when the UN General Assembly is in session.

“Donald Trump is very happy with July’s announcement by Australia to reverse a ban on imported US beef, as well as last month’s decision to expel Iran’s Ambassador to Canberra,” a US official tells The Nightly.

Earlier this month, the Prime Minister said he and the President had a “warm and constructive” chat, in what was their fourth phone call since Donald Trump was inaugurated in January.

Just last week the President described Mr Albanese as a “good man” and on Wednesday during a heated confrontation with another Australian reporter on the White House lawns, he signalled for the first time that he was getting ready to meet him.

“In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now,” the President said angrily in response to the questions about his significant business activity while in office.

“And they want to get along with me. You know, your . . . leader is coming over to see me very soon. I’m going to tell them about you. You set a very bad tone.”

In the lead-up to his US visit, the Prime Minister and his government have been busy rattling off a string of multi-billion-dollar defence announcements while also trying to lock in key regional security partnerships.

It includes a $12b boost to Henderson shipyards in WA and $1.7b for “Ghost Shark” underwater drones, along with failed attempts to land defence agreements with Pacific partners Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

But things have been starting to look up for Mr Albanese after US reports last week claiming Secretary of State Marco Rubio had privately reassured Defence Minister Richard Marles there was no plans from the Trump administration to scuttle AUKUS.

During his visit to Washington late last month Mr Marles met with Mr Rubio, the now rebranded Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and one of President Trump’s closest and most loyal confidants Stephen Miller.

US figures believe another good omen for the looming presidential meeting was last month’s visit to Australia by top Trump administration figure Jason Smith, the Chair of Washington’s powerful Ways and Means Committee inside Congress.

After returning to Washington, Congressman Smith is believed to have reported back favourably to President Trump about his visit to Australia.

When Mr Albanese flies out to the United States this weekend, he’ll be joined by Foreign Minister Penny Wong for high level meetings in New York.

For the past fortnight Australia’s top diplomat has been markedly absent from public view as the government’s hopes for two long-awaited and crucial security deals in the Pacific evaporated.