Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has finally locked in a formal face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump after a series of false starts.
The October 20 bilateral with the US president in Washington was confirmed by Mr Albanese during a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The meeting is expected to be a substantial engagement, potentially including an Oval Office audience.
Albanese will return to the US for the second time in a month for the stand-alone trip.
Both leaders are currently in New York for the UN General Assembly, where Albanese once again failed to secure his first in-person meeting with Trump.
The President instead met with the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina, France, the European Union and several others.
There had been speculation of a meeting last weekend, but Trump’s schedule shifted so he could attend conservative activist Charlie Kirk‘s memorial service in Arizona.
Some analysts suggested the federal government’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood may also have contributed to this week’s snub.
US President Donald Trump (right) has held several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the United Nations General-Assembly, including with French President Emmanuel Macron
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has finally locked in a sit-down meeting with Donald Trump
Albanese insisted Trump had committed to the October meeting ‘some time ago’.
‘We had another chat about it on the phone, and we’ll have a meeting in Washington DC, on October 20,’ Albanese said.
‘Australia and the US are great partners. I expect it to be very productive.’
Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, had earlier told attendees at one of Albanese’s speeches in New York that the meeting was locked in and that Australia was ‘delighted’.
In the meantime, Albanese could get a quick hello with Trump when he attends a reception hosted by the president and First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday morning on the sidelines of the UN gathering.
‘I’ll be talking with him there,’ Albanese told Channel Seven earlier this week.
Some say the latest Trump snub may have been a blessing in disguise.
Meetings with Trump were often transactional and coercive, which could be risky for Albanese, Perth USAsia Centre chief executive Gordon Flake said.
‘With the world on fire, I think there are other bigger priorities we have than just a one-on-one with President Trump,’ Professor Flake said.
‘I understand anxiety about … not yet having a leader-to-leader summit, but at the same time, if you begin to ask the question ‘what do you want from the summit’, I think we’re in a pretty good position.
Anthony Albanese is currently in New York for the UN General-Assembly, where he again failed to lock in a sit-down meeting with Trump
‘There’s no abiding, immediate crisis that we’re trying to solve.’
Albanese and Trump were due to sit down on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in June, before the President cut his trip short and flew back to Washington to manage the Middle East war.
Despite not meeting in person, the pair have had four phone calls since Trump was re-elected as President in January.
Early in September, Albanese described their latest call as ‘warm and constructive’.
Trump was also asked about the call and said of Albanese: ‘He’s a good man’.
Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie believes the meeting between the two leaders should have happened much sooner.
‘You don’t have to like Donald Trump to know that we need a close positive working relationship with the President of the United States, our closest ally,’ she told Sunrise on Wednesday.
‘Albanese should have jumped on the plane last year. He spent more time with Xi Jinping (the Chinese President) than he has with our closest ally comes on the back of embarrassing number of failures on the foreign affairs field.
‘He has two failed Pacific deals. He has arrived at the UN on an empty promise not to do anything for peace and it actually rewards terrorists and their sympathisers here at home.’
McKenzie hopes next month’s meeting actually happens.
‘I have been talking to food producers and exporters this week in NSW, who are very concerned about the tariffs that impact on their business,’ she said.
‘There is a lot to discuss. Let’s hope the meeting takes place and that the Prime Minister can put our case forward to the President.’
