PM’s success in Washington hinges on ‘positive relationship’ with Trump, expert warns

Anthony Albanese will have Buckley’s chance advancing critical issues with the US if he does not establish a “positive relationship” with Donald Trump next week, a leading think tank chief has warned.
The Prime Minister will visit the White House on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) for a highly anticipated one-on-one with the US President.
From AUKUS to tariffs, they have a long list of touchy topics to canvas.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Their “very warm” interactions, as Mr Albanese has characterised them, have been fairly surface level, mostly consisting of pleasantries over the phone.
Mr Trump has also called Mr Albanese a “good man” – a compliment Mr Albanese returned – and they did snap a toothy-grinned selfie together in New York last month.
But a selfie for social media is one thing and a working relationship is quite another, according to Lowy Institute chief executive Michael Fullilove.
“The meeting has been too long in coming, and we’ve seen how Oval Office meetings with the President can go in various different ways,” Mr Fullilove told NewsWire.
“So although he has important equities to protect, in terms of AUKUS and trade arrangements and the alliance, the most the first step is to establish a positive relationship with the President.”

Mr Fullilove pointed to Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO secretary general Mark Rutte and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as “the best Trump handlers in the world”.
He singled out Mr Carney for turning around relations Mr Trump, who joked about annexing Canada as president-elect and waged a vicious trade war on his northern neighbour when he entered office.
“Trump was enjoying trolling Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, but Carney managed to turn that relationship around,” Mr Fullilove said.
“I think it’s partly that Carney is very impressive, and Trump would respect his economic nous, but it’s also that Carney had a good story to tell.
“He was comfortable in those in his own skin. He was confident.
“So I think Albanese can take some lessons from that.”

He advised Mr Albanese to be “straightforward” but “friendly” and give up “trying to dissuade Mr Trump from opinions that he’s held strongly for decades”.
“I wouldn’t be critiquing him, but equally, a self-respecting, confident, friendly, authentically Australian approach is the one that’s most likely to lead to a good outcome,” Mr Fullilove said.
He said it helped that Mr Albanese, like Mr Carney, also had a “good story to tell”, such as the $53bn trade surplus and the billions more Australia is pumping into the US defence industrial base as part of AUKUS.
Mr Albanese is under pressure to return from Washington with assurances on AUKUS.
Fears the Trump administration could scrap the $368bn defence pact grew after it announced a review in June.
The review was meant to last 30 days but has dragged on for months.
The treaty-level deal with the US and the UK to arm Australia with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines is the centrepiece of Canberra’s 21st century defence strategy.
The US abandoning AUKUS would drastically set back efforts to deter an increasingly militaristic China as Beijing’s influence creeps across the Indo-Pacific.
Originally published as PM’s success in Washington hinges on ‘positive relationship’ with Trump, expert warns