Trump Signs Rare Earths Framework With Australia, Tells Ambassador: "I don't like you either"

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came to the White House Monday offering cheaper access to the continent’s rare earth minerals and an invitation to visit to play golf. President Donald Trump gifted his fellow world leader a pledge to not only honor a Biden-era agreement on nuclear-powered submarines, but speed up production in an effort to boost allied naval power in the Pacific.

China’s influence loomed over both deals, as well as Albanese’s entire visit. Over the course of the meeting in the Cabinet Room, the longstanding alliance between Australia and the U.S. seemed bolstered as both countries made moves to counter Beijing’s creeping influence over the Pacific and China’s dominance of the raw materials used in new technologies.

Trump warmly welcomed Albanese and said it was “a great honor to have you as my friend.” But he bristled when a reporter told him that Australia’s current Ambassador to the U.S., former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, had criticized Trump in the past. Rudd was sitting across the table from Trump. “It was prior to this position Mr President,” Rudd said, likely referring to messages he wrote on Twitter in 2020 calling Trump “destructive” and saying he “drags America and democracy through the mud.” Trump was not ready to reconcile. “I don’t like you either. And I probably never will,” Trump said.