Tuesday, October 21

Donald Trump and Anthony Albanese sign critical minerals deal in chummy first White House meeting

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has walked away from his long-awaited White House meeting with an $8.5 billion critical minerals deal and some effusive praise from US President Donald Trump.
In a 35-minute sitdown, Trump referred to his visitor repeatedly as a friend and seemed to throw his support behind the AUKUS deal but declined to budge on Australia’s tariff levels and took a swipe at former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who was also in the room.
After multiple attempts to meet in person over the past months, Albanese and Trump shook hands outside the White House on Monday morning (early Tuesday AEDT) and sat down in the cabinet room surrounded by Trump’s top secretaries.
Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump meet at the White House. (X/@AlboMP)
Even given the close relationship between the two countries, there had been minor fears of a Zelenskyy-style ambush on Albanese’s first White House meeting with Trump, which was shifted from the Oval Office to the cabinet room at late notice.
But any fears melted almost immediately as Trump declared his love for Australia before calling Albanese “highly respected” and “very popular”.
“I think he’s doing a really good job, and we’ve had a very good relationship,” Trump said, when asked to compare his relationships with Albanese’s predecessors Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull.

“I don’t want to compare one with the other, but I’ll tell you this, they’ve got a great, they really have a great prime minister.”
Albanese quipped that he’d use the line in his re-election ads in 2028.
“We are great friends and we’re great allies, and this is a relationship that’s been forged in the battlefields of the world,” Albanese said. 
“We have stood side by side for freedom and democracy.”
Concerns about an ambush melted almost immediately as Trump declared his love for Australia before calling Albanese “highly respected” and “very popular”.. (X/@TheWhiteHouse)

Trump sprays Rudd

There was an awkward moment when Trump was asked by a reporter whether ambassador to Washington Kevin Rudd’s criticisms of him in the past had played into the long wait for an in-person meeting with Albanese.
When the former prime minister took the job of ambassador, he deleted some old social media posts, including one in which he called Trump “the most destructive president in history”.
Trump said he didn’t “know anything about” who the reporter was referring to and asked Albanese where he was and if he still worked for him.
When Albanese pointed out the former Labor leader sitting across from Trump at the cabinet table, Trump asked Rudd if he “said bad”, to which Rudd replied, “before I took this position, Mr President”.
“I don’t like you either and I probably never will,” Trump replied.
It’s understood Rudd apologised to Trump after the cameras left the room.
Donald Trump singles out Kevin Rudd after being asked about the ambassador’s previous comments about him. (The White House)

AUKUS fears eased

One of Canberra’s leading concerns heading into the meeting was the status of AUKUS, a defence agreement with the US and UK under which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
There were concerns the Pentagon would torpedo the pact when a review headed by known AUKUS sceptic Elbridge Colby, Trump’s undersecretary for war policy, was launched in June. 
When Trump was asked about the pact earlier this year in a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he responded with, “What does that mean?”
Donald Trump addresses Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd during the president’s media address with Anthony Albanese (AP)
On Monday, he said the process was moving along “very rapidly, very well”.
Asked if he could guarantee Australia would be getting the submarines, amid concerns about manufacturing delays in the US, he said, “oh it’s getting them, no they’re getting them”.
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said all three parties were working to “clarify some of the ambiguity” that was in the original AUKUS deal, in what he said “should be a win-win for everybody”.
Asked if he would consider expediting the delivery of the submarines, Trump said, “we are doing that”.
Asked if he would consider expediting the delivery of the submarines, Trump said, “we are doing that”. (X/@AlboMP)

No movement on tariffs

Australian officials didn’t make any serious noises about winning a tariff reduction out of this meeting  and Trump didn’t give any reason to raise those low expectations.
“I will say this, Australia pays very low tariffs. Very, very low tariffs,” he said, when asked if he would consider dropping the 10 per cent tax on Australian imports.
“Australia pays among the lowest tariffs.”
Donald Trump welcomes Anthony Albanese to the White House. (Associated Press)

Critical minerals deal signed

While the meeting was ostensibly about a critical and rare earths minerals supply agreement the leaders signed in front of the camera, they didn’t spend a lot of time talking about it beyond Albanese describing it as an $8.5 billion pipeline, with the US and Australia to chip in $1 billion in the next six months.
The deal itself says that money is for financing projects both in Australia and the US and outlines extremely broad plans to accelerate free and fair markets to develop “resilience and security of critical minerals and rare earths supply chains”.
China is the world’s largest producer of rare earth elements, with 61 per cent of mined rare earth production, according to the International Energy Agency, and 92 per cent of the global output in the processing stage.
Donald Trump and Anthony Albanese sign a deal for critical and rare earth minerals. (AP)
Both the US and Europe have sought to reduce their dependence on Beijing. According to Geoscience Australia, Australia has among the largest deposits in the world of several of the 17 critical elements, but they can be difficult and costly to mine and process.
Trump threatened Beijing with even more tariffs if it manipulated the global market for rare earths, while also saying China had treated the US with “great respect” and boasting of a good relationship with President Xi Jinping.
Trump also confirmed that Albanese had invited him to Australia and that he considered the trip a “real possibility”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

On Cloud Sneakers | Lucchese Outlet | Oboz Canada | Freebird Boots | Born Shoes | Topo Shoes | Crispi Boots | Dingo Boots | LaCrosse Boots | Lems Shoes | Brahmin Bags | Vasque Boots | Bueno Shoes | Hobo Handbags | Marc Jacobs Outlet | Florsheim Boots | Ferragamo Canada | Inez Shoes | Rockport Sapatos | Bates Boots | Julbo Sunglasses | Copenhagen Schuhe | Affenzahn Schuhe | Inkkas Shoes | Lloyd Schuhe | LifeStride Shoes | Chaussures Mephisto France | Hawx Boots | Black Jack Boots | Olathe Boots | Meindl Boots UK | Giesswein Schuhe | Camper Shoes |