When Donald Trump cancelled a meeting with Anthony Albanese at the last minute in June, it could be explained as pure logistics. The US president was jetting home to deal with the eruption of the Israel–Iran conflict.
But a White House announcement overnight, revealing Albanese had been left off a long list of bilateral meetings Trump will hold in New York, is a harder snub to explain away.
It also reinforces a growing sense that his administration takes an ambivalent — if not hostile — view of Albanese.
Instead, the prime minister will have to make do with a handshake and jostle for Trump’s attention alongside about 100 world leaders at a reception hosted by the US president tomorrow.
