Anthony Albanese locks in meeting time with Donald Trump
Seattle: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will raise concerns about the United States' tariffs on Australian goods and highlight the importance of the AUKUS submarine deal for both nations when he finally meets President Donald Trump in Canada early next week.
After days of speculation about whether the meeting would go ahead - and whether Trump would even attend the Group of Seven meeting in Kananaskis, Canada - Albanese confirmed that the pair would hold face-to-face discussions.
He also said, upon arriving in the US, that Australia was unlikely to play a role in the military conflict between Israel and Iran.
Albanese arrived in Seattle early Saturday morning (US time) and was met on the tarmac by his old friend and colleague, Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd.
Protests on the streets of major US cities, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the rapidly increasing conflict between Israel and Iran and Trump's decision to slap tariffs on imported goods from around the world mean the G7 meeting is potentially one of the most consequential in years.
Standing alongside Amazon Web Services chief executive Matt Garman to announce the company's decision to increase its investment in Australian data centres to $20 billion, Albanese said the meeting would occur in Canada on Tuesday (Wednesday Australian time).
'I do expect to meet the president on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada in three days time, on Tuesday. We do have a meeting scheduled. Obviously, there are issues that the US president is dealing with at the moment, but I expect that we will be able to have a constructive engagement as well, and I look forward to building on the very constructive phone conversations that we've had on the three occasions that we've had the opportunity to talk,' he said.
'So obviously, I'll raise tariffs. We'll raise the importance as well of AUKUS, and we'll have a discussion as two friends should.'
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