Donald Trump has weighed in on Australia’s federal election — kind of.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald at the White House, the former US president congratulated Anthony Albanese on his re-election but admitted he had no clue who the Prime Minister was even running against.
“I don’t know anything about the election other than the man that won, he’s very good,” Trump said, after Australian reporters noted the Coalition’s poor result and floated the idea of a “Trump effect” hurting conservatives, just like in Canada.
“Albanese I’m very friendly with,” Trump said on Sunday evening local time. “I don’t know anything about the election other than the man that won, he’s very good.”
Pressed by Herald reporter Michael Koziol’s questions on whether his own political influence might have contributed to the Coalition’s poor showing — a theory floated by some commentators — Trump dodged. He also brushed off a question about Albanese’s past criticism of Trump-era tariffs, which the PM once described as “not the act of a friend.”
“I can only say that he’s been very, very nice to me, very respectful to me,” Trump said. “I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him… we’ve had a very good relationship.”
Trump made these comments after stepping off Marine One, having spent the weekend in Florida. He didn’t confirm whether he’d called Albanese to congratulate him, though it’s typical for world leaders to do so.
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It turns out, he had.
On Monday (May 5th), Albanese confirmed the pair spoke shortly before his first post-election press conference. The Prime Minister described the call as “very warm” and “generous” and said they discussed topics like trade, AUKUS, and the US-Australia alliance. He also hinted at a possible face-to-face meeting in the future.
“He was fully aware of the outcome and expressed a desire to continue working with me,” Albanese said. “He was very generous in his personal warmth and praise.”
“It was a very warm discussion about the friendship between our two nations that’s so important,” he told reporters from Parliament House on Monday.
“I won’t go into all of the personal comments that he made but it was very generous in his personal warmth and praise towards myself. He was fully aware of the outcome and he expressed the desire to continue to work with me in the future.”
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