He remarked, “I don’t know much about the election apart from the fact that the man who won is quite impressive.”
Trump highlighted that throughout their interactions, which included a phone conversation in which Albanese advocated for Australia to be exempt from steel tariffs, the prime minister had been consistently “very, very nice to him” and “respectful”.
“I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him, and, you know, (Albanese and I) have had a very good relationship,” he said.
The Herald also reported that Trump said he didn’t know whether his presidency had affected the election.
Trump’s political career has often been linked to a rise in authoritarian or far-right politics around the world, particularly in the global West.
Nevertheless, recent elections in both Canada and Australia have resulted in the triumph of small-l liberal and center-left governments, contrary to prolonged opinion poll predictions.
Some observers have suggested Trump’s actions in his second term, including his global tariff scheme, have put voters off that brand of politics.
Albanese celebrates victory with coffee
Former opposition leader Peter Dutton, who lost his own seat of Dickson in Saturday’s vote, was implicitly likened to Trump during Labor’s election campaign.
Dutton did rebuke the US president for his tariffs on Australian goods, but previously had dubbed him a “big thinker”.
