Albanese scores a ‘stunning win’ in meeting with Trump

Australian leader inks critical minerals deal, gets assurance on sale of US submarines

- Jonathan Pearlman and Lim Min Zhang China Correspondent

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s top priority at a much-anticipated first official meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Oct 20 was to avoid a confrontation with the leader of Australia’s closest security ally.

But Mr Albanese - who Mr Trump said was doing a “fantastic job” - achieved much more at the meeting than attracting warm praise from the President.

The Australian Prime Minister cemented a deal on critical minerals and was assured by Mr Trump that Australia would be provided with nuclear-powered submarines under a three-way security pact between Australia, Britain and the US, called Aukus.

An expert on international security, Professor Maria Rost Rublee from Melbourne University, told The Straits Times that the meeting was perhaps the most successful involving any leader of a US partner during Mr Trump’s second term as president.

“The meeting was a stunning win for Albanese,” she said.

“He was able to get everything he wanted — confirmation of Aukus; dismissal of the idea that Australia needs to spend more on defence; and no insults or major gaffes or threats, which we have seen with a lot of American allies.”

The key to the meeting’s success, said Prof Rublee, was the signing of a far-ranging agreement on critical minerals that is designed to help the US end its reliance on China for the supply of the vital resources.

The agreement will facilitate significant US investment in Australia’s mining sector as it seeks to accelerate mining and processing of minerals used to produce technology such as chips, electric vehicles and military equipment.

Though the meeting had been planned for months, the timing was ideal.

On Oct 9, China - which processes about 90 per cent of the world’s rare earths - expanded its controls on these minerals’ export, prompting the US to scramble to locate other suppliers.