US election: Anthony Albanese holds first phone call with incoming US President Donald Trump

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is vowing to build a strong relationship with Donald Trump that serves Australia’s national interest despite previously admitting the incoming US President “scares the s*** out of me”.

Mr Albanese spoke with Mr Trump around 10am (Canberra time) to personally congratulate him on his stunning election win over Democrat Kamala Harris.

The pair discussed the Australia-US alliance, the AUKUS submarine deal, trade and investment, Mr Albanese said in a statement after the call.

Speaking in question time, the Prime Minister declared he wanted to build trust and respect with Mr Trump just as he did with Democrat President Joe Biden, with whom he shared a close relationship.

“As Prime Minister, I have made it a priority to invest in relationships with world leaders to build trust and respect, in Australia’s best interest,” Mr Albanese said.

“I built that with President Biden and I will do so with President Trump.”

Fresh doubts about the Prime Minister’s ability to work with a Trump administration were raised earlier this week after 2017 footage resurfaced showing Mr Albanese admitting Mr Trump “scares the s**** out of me”.

Asked on Thursday if he felt to need to apologise to Mr Trump, Mr Albanese replied “no” before saying he looked forward to working with the incoming President.

“I have demonstrated, I think, my ability to work with world leaders and to develop relationships with them which are positive,” he said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Mr Albanese’s 2017 comments showed “terrible judgment”.

Mr Dutton made a veiled dig at Mr Albanese’s past comments as he joined the Prime Minister in congratulating Mr Trump on the election win.

“We have enduring strengths and together (with the US) we are stronger,” Mr Dutton said.

“And we will make sure that President Trump is not somebody to be scared of but somebody that we can work very closely with.”

Mr Albanese also threw his support behind Kevin Rudd to remain Australia’s top diplomat in Washington despite the former Labor Prime Minister once describing Mr Trump as “the most destructive president in history”.

“Kevin Rudd is doing a terrific job as Australia’s ambassador to the United States,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Thursday said Australia should brace for upheaval under a second Trump presidency, after the former reality TV host swept to power on an America-first agenda platform that included slapping huge tariffs on Chinese imports, deporting migrants and encouraging more oil and gas projects.

“President Trump has run a campaign based on change and he’s made it clear he’s going to do things differently, so we shouldn’t be surprised as things change,” Mr Albanese said.

“But equally, we should be really confident in ourselves and our place in the world and our ability to deliver on our interest together as Australians.”

Mr Albanese said the Federal Government had wargamed the implications of a second Trump term with “considerable briefings” across economic and security issues.

He said Australia supported free and fair global trade – a position he plans to push when world leaders gather next week in Peru for the APEC summit.

In an opening statement to Senate estimates on Thursday, Senator Wong said the Federal Government looked forward to working with the incoming Trump administration.

“Our Government will work closely with the new Trump administration to realise the benefits of our strong economic partnership,” she said.

“We will strive to strengthen co-operation between our two nations in our region.”