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Key Points
- US President Donald Trump left the G7 summit in Canada before scheduled talks with leaders of several nations.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the president’s decision was “completely understandable”.
- Albanese is considering attending the upcoming NATO summit, which could offer another opportunity to meet with Trump.
Albanese said Australia was not the only country to have its meeting with the US leader rescheduled.
Albanese revealed that although he had met with US officials overnight, Trump had not been in direct contact regarding the cancelled meeting.
PM weighing up attending NATO
“Yes, that is being considered,” Albanese said, responding to SBS News’ questions about whether the NATO summit was on the agenda.
Although Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Donald Trump was cancelled, he met with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent overnight. Source: Supplied / Australian Government
Overnight, Albanese met with the US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, and US trade representative Jamieson Greer.
Australia’s ambassador to US Kevin Rudd was also at the talks, which the prime minister said focused on supporting the US on critical minerals and “Australia’s position on tariffs”, reiterating the history of free trade and a trade surplus.
New security and defence partnership with the EU
“And we will have our respective ministers progress that over coming weeks. But we hope to conclude those discussions pretty quickly.”
