WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a critical minerals agreement aimed at countering China on Monday at a meeting marked by Trump’s jab at Australia’s envoy to the United States over past criticism.

China loomed large at the first White House summit between Trump and Albanese, with the U.S. president also backing a strategic nuclear-powered submarine deal with Australia to bolster security in the Indo-Pacific.

While Trump and Albanese greeted each other warmly, the U.S. president expressed ire about past criticism of him by Australia’s U.S. ambassador Kevin Rudd, a former prime minister. Rudd in 2020 called Trump “the most destructive president in history,” later deleting the comment from social media.

Trump said he was not aware of

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