Albanese Set for First Meeting with Trump: Insights from Past Leader Encounters

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After four phone calls and a brief encounter at the UN, the long-awaited meeting between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump will finally take place next week.

But what awaits the prime minister in the Oval Office is anyone’s guess.

Since Trump returned to the presidency at the start of the year, more than 270 days have passed without an official meeting between the two leaders.

A planned meeting at the G7 summit in Canada in June was cancelled after Trump abruptly left to address developments in the Middle East.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently took to social media to share a selfie alongside former U.S. President Donald Trump. The snapshot was taken during their encounter on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly.

The prime minister’s decision to post the image comes after previous criticism at home for his inability to arrange a formal meeting with Trump. However, this informal interaction marks a shift, addressing some of those earlier criticisms.

Throughout their brief engagement, the leaders touched on significant global issues, including Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine, the state of European security, and matters of international trade.

The conversation went more smoothly than the handshake.

During the discussion, French President Emmanuel Macron was noted for his careful and persistent challenges to Trump’s viewpoints, showcasing the diplomatic tensions often present in such high-level meetings.

At one point, Trump claimed that “Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They get their money back”.

Macron gently placed a hand on his arm and corrected him.

“No, in fact, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60 per cent of the total effort,” he said.

In response to Macron’s challenges, Trump remarked, “If you believe that, it’s okay with me,” reflecting his characteristic approach to diplomatic discourse.

A letter from the King

A couple of days after Trump’s meeting with Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the White House.

Just minutes after Trump called Starmer a “special man” and said the two “get along famously,” Starmer reached into his jacket pocket, took out a letter from King Charles, and handed it over to Trump.

“Am I supposed to read it right now?” Trump asked, with a smile on his face.

The letter was an invitation for the US president for an unprecedented second state visit to Britain.

UK Prime Minister Meets With President Trump In Washington

The letter was an invitation for the US president for an unprecedented second state visit to Britain which Trump accepted. Source: Getty / Andrew Harnik

“That is really nice. I must make sure his signature is on that. Because otherwise, it’s not quite as meaningful. And it is. And that’s quite a signature, isn’t it?” Trump said.

The meeting continued with talks about Ukraine and the trade deal with the US and UK, and during a joint press conference after the meeting, Trump said the countries “could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary”.

The UK has agreed to a 10 per cent tariff rate, marking the lowest US tariff negotiated by any country that struck a deal with Trump.

‘Gambling with World War Three’

Not every world leader has emerged unscathed from a meeting with Trump.

Just days after hosting Starmer and Macron, Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House — and the encounter quickly turned tense.

Before a packed press gallery, a heated exchange broke out that ultimately led to the cancellation of a planned critical minerals agreement.

Wearing his trademark dark long-sleeved shirt, Zelenskyy pressed Trump and US Vice President JD Vance on what they meant by ending the war in Ukraine through “diplomacy” — a question that sparked the blow-up.

“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance said.

Zelenskyy shot back: “You have a nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future.”

“You’re gambling with World War Three,” he snapped.

“And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”

Relations between the pair have since improved.

An ambush in the Oval Office

Zelenskyy isn’t the only world leader to have faced turbulence in the Oval Office.

When South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met Trump in May, the meeting began on a friendly note — with talk of golf — before turning sharply confrontational.

The two leaders were discussing trade and critical minerals when Trump abruptly played a video he claimed showed genocide being committed against white South African farmers, forcing them to flee to the United States.

Ramaphosa mostly sat expressionless while the clip was played, and said he had not seen it before.

When he began explaining that crime in South Africa affected everyone and that most victims were black, Trump cut him off.

“The farmers are not black,” he said.

The ‘very productive’ but vague meeting

In mid-August, the highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in Alaska. The almost three-hour meeting was not televised, and the leaders conducted a joint press conference afterwards.

US President Trump, Russian President Putin meet in Alaska

A meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska in August failed to result in a breakthrough. Source: EPA / Gavrill Grigorov

“There were many, many points that we agreed on. I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway. So there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump told reporters.

The leaders each spoke for a few minutes and took no questions.

The meeting did not result in a breakthrough in the war in Ukraine, though the pair have agreed to meet in Hungary in the coming weeks.