Trump Says Australia Will Get Submarines as PM Visits

AFP/APP

Washington: US President Donald Trump said Australia would receive coveted nuclear-powered attack submarines and signed a deal on rare earth minerals with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House on Monday.

The promise to Australia, which positions itself as a key US ally against China, came after the Trump administration earlier this year announced a review of the submarine deal signed under former president Joe Biden.

“The submarines that we’re starting to build for Australia are really moving along,” Trump told reporters as he sat alongside Albanese in the Cabinet Room of the White House. “We’ve worked on this long and hard, and we’re starting that process right now. And it’s really moving along very rapidly, very well.”

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The two leaders also signed an agreement on critical minerals and rare earths, which are essential for the technology that powers the global economy. Albanese has promoted Australia’s vast reserves of critical minerals as a way to reduce China’s dominance in global supply chains.

The Australian premier also managed to navigate an awkward exchange between Trump and Australia’s ambassador to Washington — former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

Rudd had previously deleted several critical social media posts about Trump following the Republican leader’s election victory last year.

“I don’t like you either. I don’t. And I probably never will,” Trump said to Rudd when a reporter pointed out that the former prime minister was in the room and asked the US president whether he minded Rudd’s earlier remarks.

Polling shows that Australians hold a largely unfavorable view of the Trump administration, though the country continues to rely heavily on the United States to counter China’s growing military influence in the Pacific region.