Washington: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has strongly backed his ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, following an awkward encounter with President Donald Trump, calling him an “outstanding Australian representative” and crediting him with the success of the visit to Washington.

Albanese said he told Trump that Australia’s decision to send a former prime minister as its ambassador to the US showed how much the country valued the relationship, noting it was not the norm and it was a job Rudd “didn’t need to do”.

As the Coalition calls for Rudd to be sacked , Albanese sang his praises at two key events in Washington, saying that no other ambassador worked harder because “it is not possible to work harder than Kevin Rudd does”.

“His engagement with people across the Congress

See Full Page