The anti-Trump who is backing Trump's Indo-Pacific strategy

Why Australia's left-leaning leader is sticking close to Washington, even under Trump.

- Jonathan Pearlman

Ahead of their upcoming first meeting in Canada in mid-June, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump have been surprisingly effusive in their mutual praise.

Following Mr Albanese's re-election landslide on May 3, the US President said his Australian counterpart was "very good" and that their relationship, based on several phone conversations, was "very friendly".

Likewise, Mr Albanese described his discussions with Mr Trump as "really warm" and expressed confidence in building strong ties with the mercurial US President.

This mutual praise may be surprising given the stark differences between the pair. In many ways, Mr Albanese is something of an anti-Trump.

MUTUAL PRAISE Unlike Mr Trump, Mr Albanese is a gradualist, a quiet achiever, a team player and a highly cautious career politician who was not born into money who has devoted his public life to the cause of the left-of-centre Labor party.

Indeed, Mr Albanese's election triumph — Labor won a record-equalling 94 of 150 seats in the Lower House — was partly due to voter concerns that the opposition Liberal-National Coalition was set to replicate policies of Mr Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Australia.

Australians have bristled at Mr Trump's tariffs, his reluctance to back Ukraine in its war against Russia, his upending of traditional alliances with countries such as Canada, and his moves to withdraw the US from climate change agreements and the World Health Organisation. A Lowy Institute poll in April found that just 36 per cent of Australians trust the US under Mr Trump to act responsibly in the world, while 64 per cent do not.