Awkward Trump and Rudd moment in historic meeting

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has walked distant from his long-awaited White House gathering pinch an $8.5 cardinal captious minerals woody and immoderate effusive praise from US President Donald Trump.

In a 35-minute sitdown, Trump referred to his visitant many times arsenic a friend and seemed to propulsion his support down nan AUKUS woody but declined to budge connected Australia's tariff levels and took a swipe astatine erstwhile premier curate Kevin Rudd, who was besides successful nan room.

After aggregate attempts to meet successful personification complete nan past months, Albanese and Trump shook hands extracurricular nan White House connected Monday greeting (early Tuesday AEDT) and sat down successful nan furniture room surrounded by Trump's apical secretaries.

Even fixed nan adjacent narration betwixt nan 2 countries, location had been insignificant fears of a Zelenskyy-style ambush connected Albanese's first White House gathering pinch Trump, which was shifted from nan Oval Office to nan furniture room astatine precocious notice.

But immoderate fears melted almost instantly arsenic Trump declared his emotion for Australia earlier calling Albanese "highly respected" and "very popular".

"I deliberation he's doing a really bully job, and we've had a very bully relationship," Trump said, erstwhile asked to comparison his relationships pinch Albanese's predecessors Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull.

"I don't want to comparison 1 pinch nan other, but I'll show you this, they've sewage a great, they really person a awesome premier minister."

Albanese quipped that he'd usage nan statement successful his re-election ads successful 2028.

"We are awesome friends and we're awesome allies, and this is simply a narration that's been forged successful nan battlefields of nan world," Albanese said. 

"We person stood broadside by broadside for state and democracy."

There was an awkward infinitesimal erstwhile Trump was asked by a newsman whether ambassador to Washington Kevin Rudd's criticisms of him successful nan past had played into nan agelong hold for an in-person gathering pinch Albanese.

When nan erstwhile premier curate took nan occupation of ambassador, he deleted immoderate aged societal media posts, including 1 successful which he called Trump "the astir destructive president successful history".

Trump said he didn't "know thing about" who nan newsman was referring to and asked Albanese wherever he was and if he still worked for him.

When Albanese pointed retired nan erstwhile Labor leader sitting crossed from Trump astatine nan furniture table, Trump asked Rudd if he "said bad", to which Rudd replied, "before I took this position, Mr President".

"I don't for illustration you either and I astir apt ne'er will," Trump replied.

It's understood Rudd apologised to Trump aft nan cameras near nan room.

One of Canberra's starring concerns heading into nan gathering was nan position of AUKUS, a defence statement pinch nan US and UK nether which Australia will get nuclear-powered submarines.

There were concerns nan Pentagon would torpedo nan pact erstwhile a reappraisal headed by known AUKUS sceptic Elbridge Colby, Trump's undersecretary for warfare policy, was launched successful June. 

When Trump was asked astir nan pact earlier this twelvemonth successful a gathering pinch British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he responded with, "What does that mean?"

On Monday, he said nan process was moving on "very rapidly, very well".

Asked if he could guarantee Australia would beryllium getting nan submarines, amid concerns astir manufacturing delays successful nan US, he said, "oh it's getting them, nary they're getting them".

Secretary of nan Navy John Phelan said each 3 parties were moving to "clarify immoderate of nan ambiguity" that was successful nan original AUKUS deal, successful what he said "should beryllium a win-win for everybody".

Asked if he would see expediting nan transportation of nan submarines, Trump said, "we are doing that".

Australian officials didn't make immoderate superior noises astir winning a tariff simplification retired of this meeting  and Trump didn't springiness immoderate logic to raise those debased expectations.

"I will opportunity this, Australia pays very debased tariffs. Very, very debased tariffs," he said, erstwhile asked if he would see dropping nan 10 per cent taxation connected Australian imports.

"Australia pays among nan lowest tariffs."

Critical minerals woody signed

While nan gathering was ostensibly astir a captious and uncommon earths minerals proviso statement nan leaders signed successful beforehand of nan camera, they didn't walk a batch of clip talking astir it beyond Albanese describing it arsenic an $8.5 cardinal pipeline, pinch nan US and Australia to spot successful $1 cardinal successful nan adjacent six months.

The woody itself says that money is for financing projects some successful Australia and nan US and outlines highly wide plans to accelerate free and adjacent markets to create "resilience and information of captious minerals and uncommon earths proviso chains".

China is nan world's largest shaper of uncommon world elements, pinch 61 per cent of mined uncommon world production, according to nan International Energy Agency, and 92 per cent of nan world output successful nan processing stage.

Both nan US and Europe person sought to trim their dependence connected Beijing. According to Geoscience Australia, Australia has among nan largest deposits successful nan world of respective of nan 17 captious elements, but they tin beryllium difficult and costly to excavation and process.

Trump threatened Beijing pinch moreover much tariffs if it manipulated nan world marketplace for uncommon earths, while besides saying China had treated nan US pinch "great respect" and boasting of a bully narration pinch President Xi Jinping.

Trump besides confirmed that Albanese had invited him to Australia and that he considered nan travel a "real possibility".

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