One of the interminable storylines of the past six months has been Anthony Albanese's inability to get an in-person meeting with Donald Trump.

Critics have leapt, repeatedly, to make essentially a similar set of arguments: the prime minister doesn't have enough pull to make it happen and that failure to prioritise a White House tete-a-tete is hurting the US-Australia relationship.

Well, let's see what happens…

In the coming days we will likely see a fresh round of will-he, won't-he meet Trump speculation as Albanese heads to this month's United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He'll only be a few hours away from Washington via the Acela fast train.

At this stage nothing has been locked in on a White House hook-up but both sides are working on it.

'He's a good man'

Richard Marle

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