Politics
Federal
Trump diplomacy
Opinion
Malcolm Turnbull Former prime minister October 21, 2025 — 11.34am
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 Albanese 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 President Trump that the US and Australia would work together on the extraction