Gyeongju: For the second time in little more than a week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dined with US President Donald Trump, this time accompanied by a coterie of leaders from an assortment of Asia-Pacific nations.

The venue was not the White House but a banquet room at the Hilton in the South Korean tourist town of Gyeongju, where Trump and the leaders took their seats somewhat awkwardly at a small round table for a dinner hosted by President Lee Jae Myung.

With Albanese seated to his right and Lee to his left, Trump used a handheld microphone to announce that the contentious $US 350 billion trade deal with South Korea was “pretty much finalised”, despite the host country’s earlier concerns that it would destabilise their economy.

He also told Lee he was optimistic that “things

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