Donald Trump has savaged Malcolm Turnbull as a weak leader after the ex-Prime Minister told Daily Mail that Australia can’t rely on the US to defend us against China.
The US commander-in-chief has used his Truth Social platform to attack Mr Turnbull, who was in power during his first term in the White House.
‘Malcolm Turnbull, the former Prime Minister of Australia who was always leading that wonderful country from “behind,” never understood what was going on in China, nor did he have the capacity to do so,’ President Trump said.
‘I always thought he was a weak and ineffective leader and, obviously Australians agreed with me.’
President Trump’s character attack on Truth Social, to his 9.2million followers, was posted after Mr Turnbull warned Daily Mail Australia the US may not defend Australia militarily in the event of China attacking our shores.
‘You cannot assume anything about Donald Trump – it’s part of his brand to be unpredictable,’ he said.
‘Yes, he’s very transactional. I would hope that the United States would always come to our aid under the ANZUS treaty if we were attacked in the Pacific.
‘But Mr Trump has made it very clear, it’s part of his brand, part of his style, to be less predictable and he has certainly been prepared to take on allies.’
Donald Trump has savaged former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as a weak leader after he told Daily Mail the American President would be reluctant to defend Australia against China
The US commander-in-chief has used his Truth Social platform to attack Mr Turnbull, who was in power during his first term in the White House
Asked to respond to the attack, Mr Turnbull told Nine Newspapers: ‘I’m a quivering leaf.’
The NATO treaty requires all its signatory nations, including the US, UK, Germany, Canada and France, to react militarily if any of its 32-member countries are invaded.
But under the 1951 ANZUS treaty, Americans are only required to consult Australia if another country attacks us, but not necessarily send in troops.
‘Mr Trump is deliberately unpredictable – that’s his style. We cannot assume that the US would come to our aid,’ Mr Turnbull told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The obligation in the event of one party being attacked is to consult – there is no obligation to act.’
President Trump is looking unlikely to give Australia a reprieve from 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium when they come into force on March 12.
Mr Turnbull was able to secure tariff exemptions in 2018 on Australian steel and aluminium exports, based on the argument that the U.S. had a trade surplus with Australia where Australian bought more goods and services from the Americans than they bought from us.
President Trump’s attack on Mr Turnbull also followed a Bloomberg TV interview with a China-focused program in Sydney that was broadcast on Monday afternoon.
The Trump administration is unlikely to give Australia a reprieve from 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium when they come into force on March 12
‘The big risk to us is not so much tariffs on Australian exports, like steel and aluminium, but rather a slowdown in the global economy, in particular the Chinese economy which is the destination for much of our exports,’ he said.
He told Bloomberg a tariff exemption was looking less likely.
‘I secured one back in 2018 but I think it’s going to a lot harder this time,’ he said.
Mr Turnbull also slammed President Trump for abandoning traditional allies like Europe.
‘Trump does not subscribe to the same values that we have in the past shared with America,’ he said.
‘Look, he doesn’t have the commitment to the international rule of law, that’s obvious.
‘He doesn’t care about treaties or alliances.’
Mr Turnbull said that mean reassessing how Australia defended itself.
‘In terms of, “How do we handle it?” Look, we’re not going to change Trump,’ he said.
‘It means we have to look at all of our defence and security relationships with a fresh eye.
‘We have got to work out how we are going to defend ourselves and how we will pursue a more independent – independent of the United States’ approach to international and security affairs.’
Canada and Mexico are getting slapped with 25 per cent manufacturing tariffs on April 2, despite being part of a North American free trade agreement with the US.
Australia has had a free trade agreement with the United States since January 2005, which was supposed to eliminate import taxes on 97 per cent of non-agricultural exports to each market.
In 2018 Mr Turnbull banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from installing the 5G mobile network, shortly before he resigned as Liberal PM and was replaced by Scott Morrison.
This was a policy the first Trump administration later adopted.
