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Key Points
- Donald Trump tells reporter his questions are “hurting Australia” during tense clash.
- US president vows to raise issue with Anthony Albanese at upcoming UN meetings.
- The ABC’s John Lyons had pressed Trump on his business ties.
US President Donald Trump has clashed with an Australian journalist during a tense exchange outside the White House, warning him that his questions were “hurting Australia” and vowing to raise the matter directly with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The confrontation came after the ABC’s Americas editor, John Lyons, pressed the president on whether it was appropriate for a sitting leader to maintain extensive business interests.
“I believe you’re causing significant harm to Australia at the moment,” Trump remarked. “They wish to maintain good relations with me. You should know, your leader will visit me shortly. I’ll be sure to mention you. You’re establishing a very negative precedent.”
Trump did not mention when he would meet Albanese.
The prime minister is preparing to travel to New York in the coming days for the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, where a face-to-face with Trump on the sidelines is a possibility.
Trump praised Albanese as a “good man” after the two leaders held their fourth one-on-one phone call earlier in September.
The prime minister described his call with Trump as “really warm”.
A face-to-face meeting between the two leaders had been planned on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in June but was cancelled after Trump returned to the US early to deal with the Iran-Israel conflict.
The UN’s “high-level week” starts in New York on 22 September.
