Before meeting Trump, Albanese meets the man who vowed to ‘stand up' to the President
Calgary: The AUKUS submarine pact, tariffs and China are expected to dominate the first face-to-face meeting between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump, with the prime minister vowing to remind the US president of the significant military support Australia already provides.
Fresh from a meeting with another world leader who benefited electorally from distancing himself from the president, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Albanese said he defined success with Trump as being able to argue Australia's case.
'I don't want to preempt outcomes of meetings [but] a successful meeting is one where we are able... to put forward our position,' Albanese said.
On Monday, AEST, Carney and Albanese discussed deepening defence ties - including through the proposed Canadian acquisition of a sophisticated Australian-made radar system - as well as that country's participation in AUKUS' 'pillar 2' which is focused on advanced technology.
Carney won his election earlier this year in a major upset in part by vowing to 'stand up' to Trump, who had suggested Canada could become a US state.
The Australian prime minister will meet a bevy of leaders while attending the G7 summit on the edge of the Canadian Rocky mountains this week, including the prime ministers of England, Japan and Germany, the presidents of France, South Korea and France and EU leaders.
The conflict between Israel and Iran will feature prominently at the summit, as will discussions on access to critical minerals, climate change, energy security and the global economy.
But Albanese's first meeting with Trump at the summit – which will not issue its typical joint communique – has dominated the leadup to the event and comes at a time when there are an unusual number of sticking points in the usually smooth Australia-US relationship.
'Our position when it comes to tariffs is very clear,' he said. 'We see tariffs as acts of economic self harm by the country imposing the tariffs, because what it does is lead to increased costs for the country that is making those decisions,' he said.
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