American politician issues a wake-up call for Anthony Albanese - and what he needs to do for Trump
Two US congressmen have urged Anthony Albanese to visit the White House in order to meet Donald Trump and save the wavering AUKUS pact.
Republican Michael McCaul and Democrat Joe Courtney are the co-chairs of the Friends of Australia Caucus, which is pushing for AUKUS to go ahead after Elbridge Colby, the US defence under-secretary for policy, announced a review of the nuclear submarine deal.
McCaul said on Monday it was crucial for Albanese to develop a personal rapport with Trump.
'For (Albanese) to come to the White House would be a great gesture on the prime minister's part, that I think would go over very well,' he told the Australian Financial Review.
'That would be very sound advice for him to do that.'
Meanwhile, Courtney said Albanese should highlight the significant investment Aussie companies were making in US shipyards, set to hit $4.6billion AUD.
He also emphasised that Australia would pay a fair price for the several nuclear submarines set to be acquired from 2032.
'This really takes it out of the sort of America First criticism of security agreements... where President Trump felt that other countries weren't pulling their own weight,' Courtney said.
'It's a case that is very unique that the prime minister can articulate.
'(Albanese) is a very personable and socially savvy person, kind of like (UK Prime Minister) Keir Starmer, who does seem to have succeeded with the personal interaction.'
Albanese was stood up by the US President at the G7 Summit in Canada earlier this month, and instead met with members of Trump's senior economic team.
Trump left the summit early due to the Israel-Iran conflict, scotching planned meeting with several world leaders including Albanese, who has only ever spoken to the US President on the phone.
The prime minister also did not attend last week's NATO Summit, where political observers had hoped he would have a second chance to meet with Trump.
In a win for the US President, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - which Australia is not a part of - agreed at the summit to lift their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP over 10 years.
The White House later indicated it expects its allies in the Asia-Pacific - including Australia - to also increase their defence funding.
This means that Albanese may be pressured to increase defence spending if he wants to shore up the AUKUS deal, and to secure a reprieve from punishing tariffs imposed by the US on imports, including a 50 per cent levy on steel and aluminium.
In this year's Budget, the Albanese government raised defence spending to 2.2 per cent of GDP, aiming for 2.3 per cent by 2034 - well short of the 3 per cent of GDP that the Trump administration has previously demanded of Australia.
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