Politics

Federal

Trump diplomacy

Opinion

Malcolm Turnbull Former prime minister Updated October 21, 2025 — 12.40pm first published at 11.35am

Anthony Albanese and his team, including ambassador Kevin Rudd, should be very pleased with their meeting with President Donald Trump. They achieved the main objective, which was to get in and out without mishap.

Trump lavished the prime minister with praise and Albanese lavished back without appearing sycophantic. He maintained his dignity with charm and good humour. It was definitely a 10/10 in diplomatic and political terms.

The agreement on rare earths development and processing is a very good step forward. Australia has been pressing for this for a long time. Back in February 2018, I agreed with Trump, then in his first te

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