Anthony Albanese says Kevin Rudd will serve out four years as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, stating the US President Donald Trump had forgiven the former prime minister for his historical insults.

He told a corporate lunch that he told Mr Trump that Mr Rudd’s seniority as a former prime minister was a sign of the importance of the US relationship to his government.

Mr Albanese’s strident embrace of his Ambassador came 24 hours after he laughed and grinned through the US President’s tense encounter with the former Labor leader — the only hitch in an otherwise flawless first meeting between the two leaders.

Mr Trump told Mr Rudd that he didn’t like him and probably never would after being asked if the former prime minister’s insults were the reason for Australia’s first lea

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