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Trump praises 'good relationship' with Australia's re-elected PM Albanese
When Albanese was asked during the second election debate of the campaign whether he trusted Trump, the Australian prime minister said that he had no reason not to.
Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump praised his 'very good relationship' with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who defeated an opponent seen by voters as too similar to the American leader in an election on Saturday.
Asked about the result at the White House on Sunday, Trump said that he was 'very friendly with Albanese,' adding that he believed the Australian leader had been 'very nice' and 'very respectful' to him. Following a phone call between the two leaders in February, Trump described Albanese as a 'very fine man.'
Albanese's center-left government was re-elected by a surprisingly large margin, with voters choosing continuity over change at a time of mounting global instability. The Australian prime minister said at a press conference in Canberra on Monday that he had spoken to Trump over the phone in the wake of his election win, describing the conversation as 'very warm and positive.'
Albanese said the two leaders had discussed the US tariff regime and the Aukus security pact, which could see Australia purchase a number of American nuclear-powered submarines in the early 2030s.
When Albanese was asked during the second election debate of the campaign whether he trusted Trump, the Australian prime minister said that he had 'no reason not to.'
Trump added on Sunday that he had no idea who had been running against Albanese in the election, despite outgoing Opposition Leader Peter Dutton saying during the campaign that he could have got a better deal in tariff negotiations with the president.
Dutton was likely damaged at Saturday's vote by his perceived affinity with Trump, and the center-right opposition is now at loggerheads over whether to embrace MAGA-style ideology or reject it in the wake of a disastrous campaign.
Trump is deeply unpopular with Australians, with a Redbridge opinion poll in March finding 59 per cent of voters disapproved of the US president even before his decision to impose broad tariffs on Australian goods.
Dutton had initially praised Trump as a 'big thinker' and 'shrewd' before he was forced to backtrack as it became clear the US leader was deeply unpopular. Dutton was also forced to backtrack on a Trump-style policy of requiring government employees to return to the office early in the campaign.
In his election night victory speech, Albanese made reference to his repeated jabs at Dutton for seemingly adopting the policies of the US president. 'We do not need to beg, or borrow, or copy from anywhere else,' the prime minister said. 'We do not seek our inspiration overseas. We find it right here, in our values and in our people.'
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Time of India
19 minutes ago
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
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Their proliferation has often outpaced their security. The phones of top government officials are especially valuable, containing sensitive government information, passwords and an insider's glimpse into policy discussions and decision-making. The White House said last week that someone impersonating Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, reached out to governors, senators and business leaders with texts and phone calls. It's unclear how the person obtained Wiles' connections, but they apparently gained access to the contacts in her personal cellphone, The Wall Street Journal reported. The messages and calls were not coming from Wiles' number, the newspaper reported. While most smartphones and tablets come with robust security, apps and connected devices often lack these protections or the regular software updates needed to stay ahead of new threats. That makes every fitness tracker, baby monitor or smart appliance another potential foothold for hackers looking to penetrate networks, retrieve information or infect systems with malware. Federal officials launched a program this year creating a "cyber trust mark" for connected devices that meet federal security standards. But consumers and officials shouldn't lower their guard, said Snehal Antani, former chief technology officer for the Pentagon 's Joint Special Operations Command. "They're finding backdoors in Barbie dolls," said Antani, now CEO of a cybersecurity firm, referring to concerns from researchers who successfully hacked the microphone of a digitally connected version of the toy. Risks emerge when smartphone users don't take precautions It doesn't matter how secure a mobile device is if the user doesn't follow basic security precautions, especially if their device contains classified or sensitive information, experts say. Mike Waltz, who departed as Trump's national security adviser, inadvertently added The Atlantic's editor-in-chief to a Signal chat used to discuss military plans with other top officials. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon's security protocols set up in his office so he could use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, the AP has reported. Hegseth has rejected assertions that he shared classified information on Signal, a popular encrypted messaging app not approved for the use of communicating classified information. China and other nations will try to take advantage of such lapses, and national security officials must take steps to prevent them from recurring, said Michael Williams, a national security expert at Syracuse University . "They all have access to a variety of secure communications platforms," Williams said. "We just can't share things willy-nilly." (AP)
