Albanese has 'very warm' phone call with Trump
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The news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has had a phone call with Donald Trump after securing his second term in government, describing it as "warm" and "positive".
At a press conference on Monday, Albanese told reporters he had spoken directly with the US president following his historic election win on Saturday. He said US tariffs and the AUKUS partnership were raised on the call and discussions will continue.
The prime minister has also spoken to many other global leaders, including from Indonesia, Ukraine, the UK and Canada, with more calls yet to be made including with Singapore.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Albanese to attend the G7 in June, which Albanese said he had accepted.
The context: Albanese's ability to speak directly to Trump became a topic of interest during the federal election campaign after the prime minister suggested the US president might not have a mobile phone rather than concede he didn't have his phone number. Albanese later noted he didn't have a direct mobile phone number for former president Joe Biden either.
The Albanese government's ability to manage trade negotiations has been under scrutiny after Australia failed to secure an exemption on 25% steel and aluminium tariffs and a sweeping 10% tariff on all imports imposed by the US. The prime minister has said he will continue to push for free trade in the region and is not considering reciprocal action.
What they said: "I had a warm and positive conversation with President Donald Trump just a short while ago when I was at the Lodge, and I thank him for his very warm message of congratulations," Albanese said at the press conference.
"We talked about how AUKUS and tariffs will continue to engage, we'll engage with each other on a face-to-face basis at some time in the future. But it was a very warm [call] ... I thank him for reaching out in such a positive way as well," he said.
He declined to "go into all" of the details when pressed further by reporters but said Trump 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."
