The crucial meeting Anthony Albanese just had at the G7 - despite being ghosted by Trump

Daily Mail​

5 hours ago

Anthony Albanese has met with Donald Trump 's top economic team after being denied a face-to-face meeting with the US President when he left the G7 summit early to deal with the Iran -Israel crisis.
The Prime Minister's plan to meet Trump on the last day of the G7 Leaders summit in Canada 's Alberta province was scuppered when the US Commander-in-Chief left the event early due to the escalating situation in the Middle East.
It was no doubt a bitter disappointment for Albanese who would have been hoping to secure a carve out from the US administration's punishing 'Liberation Day' tariffs and to make the case for the $368 billion AUKUS submarine deal, which The Pentagon is now reviewing.
However, Albanese was handed two 20-minute consolation meetings with senior US officials in Kananaskis on Tuesday local time.
The PM and Australia's ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Direction of National Economic Council Kevin Hassett and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
'I spoke with President Trump's senior economic team today at the G7 Summit about how we can strengthen our partnership,' Albanese said in a statement.
'Our free-flowing trade and investment has supported American and Australian workers, businesses, and investors - making both our countries more prosperous.'
They discussed trade, tariffs, and Australia's critical minerals and rare earth minerals.
But they reportedly did not discuss concerns about the AUKUS deal with the US and UK, which Trump has placed under a 30-day review.
However, Albanese did discuss the submarine deal with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with both leaders vowing to take their commitment to the security pact to 'another level'.
'We've both taken it on ourselves to take it to another level when it comes to defence and security, to our work on AUKUS, but also on issues like energy and the global issues that matter,' Starmer said, according to The Australian.
'We think alike, we work alike and we have a shared agendas to work together.'
There is some hope the US won't try to mothball the deal after Trump and Starmer backed the agreement following their own bilateral meeting earlier in the week.
Many others in attendance at the summit had also lined up chats with Mr Trump.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was also hoping to have her first in-person talk with Mr Trump, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had scheduled discussions with the US president on Tuesday.
But even without the biggest star of the summit, the diplomatic show had to go on.
The hole left by the expected US tariffs discussions in Kananaskis was filled by a push to resurrect a long-stalled free trade agreement with the European Union.
During talks with the German Chancellor, Albanese said he was 'very keen on getting it done quickly' and Friedrich Merz immediately offered to help.
'Is there anything I can do to speed it up a little bit?' he said ahead of their meeting.
Albanese is also scheduled to talk with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.
The EU was Australia's third-largest trading partner in 2022/23, with two-way trade valued at $106 billion.
Negotiations over the proposed free trade agreement first began in 2018 but have been held up by several points of contention.
The trading bloc was concerned by Australian producers using terms like prosecco or feta for products that did not originate from specific regions in Europe.
Meanwhile, Australia has urged the EU to drop or reduce its tariffs on all agriculture exports.
Earlier in 2025, global uncertainty driven by Trump and his tariffs had revived conversations, and the US president appears to have helped spark discussions once more.
The prime minister's talks with other world leaders have also resumed, with Albanese also holding conversations with Japanese President Shigeru Ishiba.
He has already met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Secretary General Mark Rutte.