A meeting between Donald Trump and visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took an awkward turn when a journalist present in the room pointed out that the current envoy to Australia, Kevin Rudd, had called him "the most destructive US president" back in 2020.

After the journalist highlighted Rudd's past criticism of Trump, the US President, with Albanese seated next to him, said, "I don't know anything about him. If he said bad, then he'll like to apologise."

"Did an ambassador say something bad about me?" he asked, turning to Albanese: "Where is he? Is he still working for you?"

Albanese then pointed at Rudd, a former prime minister who has been serving as Australia's ambassador to the United States since 2023. Trump then looked directly at Rudd and asked, "You said bad?"

See Full Page