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    Aukus should expand to other shipbuilding nations, US congressman suggests, as Albanese returns to Australia

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    A leading US congressman admits the US must substantially boost its defence manufacturing capacity in order to sell Australia nuclear submarines under Aukus, floating the idea of adding Japan, South Korea or Norway to the pact to help build more ships.Anthony Albanese has returned from Washington DC with Donald Trump’s endorsement of Aukus and a fresh show of support from longtime backers of the military pact in the US congress. Both Republican and Democratic politicians reaffirmed their support to help Australia buy second-hand US nuclear submarines, even as concerns still remain about whether US shipyards – currently not working fast enough to meet the US navy’s own requirements – can produce enough boats to sell to Australia.Congressman Adam Smith, Democratic leader of the House armed services committee, said Aukus was important to help the US meet its “massive needs” in national security, but that the country needed to build more submarines.“I think we’ve got some work to do. I’m confident we can get there, but that’s why the partnership is so important. We have to improve our defence industrial base, we can’t do that on our own,” he told Guardian Australia.Sign up: AU Breaking News email“I hope we can explore partnerships with other nations as well; South Korea, Japan, Norway. They’re all capable shipbuilders. I hope we can grow the Aukus partnership on those goals.”Under the Aukus agreement, Australia will contribute billions to increase US defence industry capacity. Albanese told a breakfast meeting of US congressional leaders that Australia had already sent US$1bn (A$1.6b), with more to come.“There’ll be $1bn on its way before Christmas,” the prime minister said.“And then a further $1bn next year because we understand that we want to uplift your industrial capacity so that we make a contribution for when we purchase your Virginia-class submarines.”Albanese has indicated the US could seek minor updates to the Aukus agreement, after Trump’s naval secretary raised plans to “clarify some of the ambiguity” in the deal.Smith welcomed Trump’s endorsement of Aukus, revealing he and others “were worried some people at the Department of Defense had some reservations”.View image in fullscreen“This is a huge positive, I hope this [Trump] administration will see it through,” he said.“Many of us who have been strong advocates for Aukus have been apprehensive about where the Trump administration would end up. Seeing where they ended up, Albanese seems to have done a very effective job. I’m glad the meeting went well.”Australia, the UK and the US have discussed, formally and informally, cooperation with other nations under the Aukus framework. Japan has been continually nominated as a potential partner under pillar II of the pact, which goes to advanced technological capabilities, while South Korea has also been discussed in that stream.But Smith suggested a potentially wider sense of cooperation with nations outside the Aukus partners.“The discussion is very nascent, it’s just getting started. I’d see it more on shipbuilding and repair than submarines specifically, but those nations are allies of ours,” he said.“Japan was the first that we thought of, but I want personally to be as ambitious as possible in this project and look for partners and allies across the world to help us meet our defence needs.”The Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, was contacted for comment. He said last month during a visit to Japan “we continue to look to areas where we can cooperate with Japan under the banner of Aukus, or more generally, in terms of industrial collaboration, but also innovation.”Concerns over the pace and efficiency of current US shipbuilding have raised worries over whether Australia will be able to buy the Virginia-class submarines as scheduled. The US navy estimates it needs to be building Virginia-class submarines at a rate of about 2.33 a year to have enough boats to sell any to Australia, but as of July was building about 1.13 a year.The US navy estimates it needs to be building Virginia-class submarines at a rate of 2.00 a year just to meet its own defence requirements.At the end of his trip, Albanese said he was pleased by the US support for Aukus.“Ambassador [Kevin] Rudd has done a great job of building support across members of Congress for the Aukus arrangements,” he said.Albanese met members of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee during his trip. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Jim Risch, the Democratic and Republican ranking members respectively, said they hoped “our relationship only continues to grow, most notably with the continuation of the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) agreement”.“Together, we will push back against adversaries like China that threaten us and our allies in the Indo-Pacific,” they said.Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas who until recently chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Guardian Australia that Aukus “keeps Chairman Xi [Jinping] up at night.” He met Albanese during his visit, calling for the Pillar II arrangement to be expanded to explore cooperation on more technology. More

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      Albanese has worked out a way to deal with Trump – even if there are areas where they don’t see eye to eye

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      Outside the White House cabinet room hangs a painting of Donald Trump flanked by Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, in front of a billowing American flag.The fan-fiction rendition of three Republican leaders, proudly displayed on a main thoroughfare amid a gallery of other photographs and portraits of Trump, is far from the oddest thing in the home and office of the 47th president. The White House is a homage to gilding and gold, crown moulding daubed in glittering paint, with knick-knacks gaudy and glistening stuffed on to his shelves, a Diet Coke button on his desk, and a new ballroom requiring the partial tear-down of the historic East Wing.But the painting, spied on the way into Trump’s press conference with Anthony Albanese on Monday, is a good place to start in considering just how much of a political odd couple the two men are – and why, from the outside at least, their remarkably warm first formal sit-down surprised nearly everyone.Nearly everyone, except the prime minister himself.Trump, the brash and unflinching authoritarian conservative launching assaults on the judiciary and political opponents to steamroll his agenda, who hangs portraits comparing himself to arguably America’s greatest president who freed the slaves and won the civil war. Albanese, a leftwing warrior turned cautious team captain, who has made a virtue of “orderly government” and knocked more ambitious policies on the head out of pragmatism.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailWalking from the Brady press briefing room, shuffling through poky corridors toward the cabinet room, there was a sense among the media pack that we could be in for – if not a Zelenskyy-style browbeating – at least a disagreement or two. Turning a corner, as if to bluntly contrast the two men, the corridor suddenly filled with wall-to-wall images of Trump.Trump striding a red carpet in front of Air Force One, Trump brandishing an agreement signed with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump flashing a thumbs up with Palestinian Authority chair Mahmoud Abbas, with giant meme text reading “PEACE 2025” superimposed along the bottom. Right outside the cabinet room, as if to bludgeon your head in with symbolism, a giant oil painting of Trump standing stoically in front of a half-dozen American flags. About 20 paintings and photos, each pumping up Trump’s tyres more than the last, leave visitors in no doubt about whose White House we’re in.On tables in the anteroom, White House attendants buzzed around preparing for the official lunch to come, plastic bottles of Diet Coke sitting in plastic buckets of ice next to silver platters of crystal ware.But inside the room, the two men sat side-by-side as partners. Nestled between military flags and nearly needing to shield their eyes from Trump’s gleaming trappings of office, the leaders shared a minerals deal, shared black Texta pens, shared a laugh at Kevin Rudd, then shared a meal.Albanese famously once said in 2017 that Trump “scares the shit out of me”. It would have been hard for the then shadow minister to imagine he would be sitting in Trump’s White House eight years later, swapping jokes and gifts – let alone to imagine himself praising the Republican president a day after millions rallied across America for the No Kings protests against Trump’s policies, including troubling immigration raids, sending military into Democratic-governed cities, and crackdowns on free speech.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionPosters advertising the rally and critical of Trump still hung in streets around the White House the day of Albanese’s arrival. Families and tour groups milled awkwardly on the outskirts of the White House and Capitol building, not allowed in due to the continuing government shutdown as Trump’s Republicans remain in a stalemate with Democrats over budget funding.Albanese later described his first proper meeting with “very warm” Trump as a major success, the president taking him on a tour of the White House and Oval Office. Albanese and his team had been confident it would go well, the US-Australia relationship – forged in history and the heat of battle – being bigger than the people occupying each nation’s government benches.The extraordinary warmness shown by Trump was held up as vindication of the prime minister’s foreign policy acumen, and the nerve he had shown in not bending to opposition demands to beg and scrape for a meeting earlier. Sussan Ley walked back her only criticisms of the meeting less than 24 hours after making them, in the face of ridicule for her overreach.But relief and victory were written across the faces of the PM and his people on Tuesday, realising they had not only escaped the White House without tripping up, but indeed in triumph.As they fly home on Wednesday, perhaps they’ll be thinking of their wins: Aukus backed in the strongest terms (albeit with mysterious “ambiguities” the US wants to iron out, and which Albanese refused to talk about). A multi-billion minerals deal. Zero blowback from any number of policy areas, from defence to the Middle East, where the two nations have disagreed.Inevitable criticism from the ALP’s left flank came quickly, with former Labor senator Doug Cameron calling Albanese’s conduct a “capitulation”. Albanese’s joking quip that he would use Trump’s warm words about him in future election ads will be played again and again by progressive critics unhappy about Labor further tying Australia to the US administration.In 2017, adding to his “scared” remarks, Albanese said: “We have an alliance with the US, we’ve got to deal with him, but that doesn’t mean that you’re uncritical about it.”At the time, Albanese was a shadow minister. Now as prime minister, he has seemingly worked out a way to deal with Trump – even if they’re unlikely to swap interior design tips anytime soon. More

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      ‘We are on a dangerous path’: Oregon attorney general slams decision allowing Trump to send troops to Portland – live

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      The Oregon attorney general, Dan Rayfield, has issued a statement following the ruling from the ninth circuit court of appeals, which lifted the temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of the state’s national guard.He said that if the ruling is allowed to stand, it would give Donald Trump “unilateral power to put Oregon soldiers on our streets with almost no justification”.“We are on a dangerous path in America,” he added.The three-judge panel was split in their decision, with Clinton-appointee Susan Graber dissenting from her colleagues. Rayfield added:
      Oregon joins Judge Graber in urging the full Ninth Circuit to ‘act swiftly’ en banc ‘to vacate the majority’s order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur.’ And, like her, we ‘ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little while longer’.
      In a court-ordered disclosure filed on Monday, the US interior department revealed that it plans “to abolish 2,050 positions”, including sweeping cuts to the Bureau of Land Management, and smaller numbers at the Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey and other agencies. Among the positions slated for elimination are Bureau of Reclamation workers who provide maintenance for the Hoover Dam.The declaration, with a detailed appendix of positions to be cut from Rachel Borra, the interior department’s chief human capital officer, was submitted to comply with an order issued by the US district court for the northern district of California in a lawsuit brought by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and four other national unions that represent federal workers at risk of losing their jobs.The planned layoffs are paused for now by a temporary restraining order that US District court judge Susan Illston expanded during an emergency hearing on Friday.As our colleague Anna Betts reports, construction crews started demolishing part of the East Wing of the White House to make way for Donald Trump’s planned ballroom on Monday.The Washington Post on obtained and published a photo of the demolition activity, showing construction in progress and parts of the exterior ripped down.A Daily Mail reporter shared video of the demolition on social media.Read the full story here:Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House Democratic minority, just called on Republicans to negotiate an end to the government shutdown by citing Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Maga Republican from Georgia.“The Republican health care crisis, as Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeatedly indicated, is real,” Jeffries told reporters. “And it’s having devastating impacts that are becoming increasingly apparent to the American people. In Idaho, 100,000 Americans are at risk of losing their health care if the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire, because it will become unaffordable for them.”He went on to cite examples in other states where some people are “finding out that their health insurance premiums are about to increase by more than $2,000 per month.”A growing share of Americans believe religion is gaining influence and society – and view its expanding role positively, a new report by the PEW research center has found. It comes as the Trump administration has sought to fuse conservative Christian values and governance, especially in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. In just one year, the share of US adults who believe religion is gaining influence in American society has increased sharply. While still a minority view, 31% say religion is on the rise — up from just 18% a year earlier, in February 2024 – the highest figure recorded in 15 years.Meanwhile, the percentage who say religion is losing influence dropped from 80% to 68%.According to the PEW survey, these changing perceptions of religion suggest a broader shift in a country that was rapidly secularizing. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans (59%) now express a positive view of religion’s influence in public life, either because they see its rising power as a good thing, or view its decline as a bad thing. Only 20% express negative views, while the rest remain neutral or uncertain.Notably, the shift is not confined to one party or demographic. Both Republicans and Democrats, as well as nearly all major religious groups and age brackets, have become more likely to say religion is gaining ground — and more likely to feel their religious beliefs conflict with mainstream American culture. That sense of cultural conflict is now a majority view, with 58% of US adults reporting at least some tension between their beliefs and broader society.Finally, while views on religious truth vary, nearly half of Americans (48%) say many religions may be true — more than double the share (26%) who say only one religion is true.Pew’s findings suggest a significant cultural shift unfolding under an administration that has explicitly championed Christian conservatism as a governing ethos.It is perhaps significant that Susan Graber, the lone dissenting voice on the three-judge federal appeals court panel that just permitted Donald Trump to deploy federal troops to Portland, Oregon, in the only one of the three to be based in Portland.Graber, a former law school classmate of Bill and Hillary Clinton who was nominated to the federal bench by Clinton while serving on the Oregon supreme court, wrote a scathing dissent to the majority ruling, which lifts a lower-court order that had temporarily blocked Trump from sending in troops to what he falsely claims is a “war-ravaged” city.The other two judges on the panel, both nominated by Trump during his first term, are based in Arizona and Idaho.Graber said in an interview in 2012, that “it was kind of love at first sight with Portland” for her when she first moved to the city to work as a law clerk.In her dissent, she urged the full appeals court to reverse the decision by the panel, writing that there was “no legal or factual justification supported the order to federalize and deploy the Oregon National Guard”.She continued: “Given Portland protesters’ well-known penchant for wearing chicken suits, inflatable frog costumes, or nothing at all when expressing their disagreement with the methods employed by ICE, observers may be tempted to view the majority’s ruling, which accepts the government’s characterization of Portland as a war zone, as merely absurd. But today’s decision is not merely absurd. It erodes core constitutional principles, including sovereign States’ control over their States’ militias and the people’s First Amendment rights to assemble and to object to the government’s policies and actions.”The judge added: “The majority’s order abdicates our judicial responsibility, permitting the President to invoke emergency authority in a situation far divorced from an enumerated emergency.”Graber concluded:“We have come to expect a dose of political theater in the political branches, drama designed to rally the base or to rile or intimidate political opponents. We also may expect there a measure of bending – sometimes breaking – the truth. By design of the Founders, the judicial branch stands apart. We rule on facts, not on supposition or conjecture, and certainly not on fabrication or propaganda. I urge my colleagues on this court to act swiftly to vacate the majority’s order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur. Above all, I ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little longer.”The Oregon attorney general, Dan Rayfield, has issued a statement following the ruling from the ninth circuit court of appeals, which lifted the temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of the state’s national guard.He said that if the ruling is allowed to stand, it would give Donald Trump “unilateral power to put Oregon soldiers on our streets with almost no justification”.“We are on a dangerous path in America,” he added.The three-judge panel was split in their decision, with Clinton-appointee Susan Graber dissenting from her colleagues. Rayfield added:
      Oregon joins Judge Graber in urging the full Ninth Circuit to ‘act swiftly’ en banc ‘to vacate the majority’s order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur.’ And, like her, we ‘ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little while longer’.

      A three-judge panel on the ninth circuit court of appeals has ruled that the Trump administration can deploy the national guard to Portland, Oregon. They lifted a lower court judge’s decision that blocked the president from federalizing and sending roughly 200 troops to the city to guard federal buildings, as largely small and peaceful protests took place in recent weeks outside an immigration facility in the city.

      Donald Trump welcomed Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese to the White House, signing a rare earth minerals deal as trade tensions with China escalate. The pair just signed a rare earths agreement which opens up Australia’s vast mineral resources. Albanese added that the deal was an “eight and a half billion dollar pipeline” to supply critical rare earths to the US. Meanwhile, Trump doubled down on his threat of imposing a 157% tariff on Chinese imports if both nations can’t reach a trade deal. This, after Beijing announced they were tightening exports of rare earth minerals. “We have a tremendous power, and that’s the power of tariff, and I think that China will come to the table and make a very fair deal,” the president added.

      Donald Trump said he didn’t think Ukraine would win back land that was captured by Russia during the war. “They could still win it,” Trump remarked during his meeting with Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese. “I don’t think they will. They could still win it. I never said they would win it. Anything can happen. You know, war is a very strange thing.” Trump’s seeming skepticism of a Ukrainian victory came several days after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he appeared more keen on negotiating a peace agreement than supplying the nation with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

      The president has said that Hamas is “going to behave” or will face severe repercussions. While taking questions from reporters today, Trump said that Hamas are “going to be nice, and if they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them”. This comes after Israel launched waves of deadly airstrikes on Sunday and cut off all aid into Gaza “until further notice” after a reported attack by Hamas, in escalations that marked the most serious threat so far to the fragile ceasefire in the devastated territory.

      The government shutdown entered its 20th day, with little end in sight. The House remains out of session, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle blame the other party for the impasse on Capitol Hill. Earlier, White House economic adviser said that shutdown would “likely” end this week after the No Kings protests took place across the country. The Senate will vote, for the 11th time, on a House-passed funding bill to reopen the government at 5:30pm ET.
      A three-judge panel on the ninth circuit court of appeals has ruled that the Trump administration can deploy the national guard to Portland, Oregon.They lifted a lower court judge’s decision that blocked the president from federalizing and sending roughly 200 troops to the city to guard federal buildings, as largely small and peaceful protests took place in recent weeks outside an immigration facility in the city.Per that last post, it’s worth putting that in the context of Greene’s decision to buck the Republican party line in recent months.My colleagues David Smith and George Chidi, have been reporting on the Georgia’s congresswoman’s “streak of independence” on issues ranging from healthcare to Gaza to the Jeffrey Epstein files. They report that Greene has broken ranks with Republicans and won unlikely fans among Democrats, stirring speculation about her motives – and future ambitions.David and George write that the lawmaker, who was once “one of Donald Trump’s most loyal foot soldiers” has stopped short of directly criticising the president himself and has so far avoided incurring his wrath. “But her willingness to dissent is all the more remarkable under a president who notoriously prizes loyalty and punishes critics,” they note.You can read more of their reporting below.Marjorie Taylor Greene, a representative of Georgia, on Monday morning criticized Mike Johnson’s strategy to keep the House shuttered for weeks, calling on the lower chamber to return to session immediately.“The House should be in session working,” Greene wrote on X. “We should be finishing appropriations. Our committees should be working. We should be passing bills that make President Trump’s executive orders permanent. I have no respect for the decision to refuse to work.”The callout from Greene, who is aligned with the right flank of her party, is a noticeable crack in support for Johnson’s hardline approach from the GOP over an extended congressional recess. Since 19 September, when members last cast votes, the chamber has not been conducting legislative business, although members have staged press conferences.According to Politico, House speaker Mike Johnson spoke with the president earlier, and will be at the White House at 4pm as Donald Trump welcomes the Louisiana State University (LSU) baseball champions.Also present will be the athletes from LSU Shreveport, the city where Johnson was born and raised. Part of his congressional district also includes the city.in BogotáColombia has recalled its ambassador to Washington amid a furious war of words between the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, and Donald Trump over deadly US strikes on boats in the Caribbean.The row took a sharp turn this weekend when Petro accused the US of “murdering” a Colombian fisher in an attack on a vessel in its territorial waters. Petro and his administration said the mid-September strike was a “direct threat to national sovereignty” and that the victim was a “lifelong fisherman” and a “humble human being”.In response, Trump, who has claimed such attacks are designed to stop drug-smuggling to the US, called Petro an “illegal drug dealer” and vowed to end aid payments to Colombia, one of the largest recipients of US counter-narcotics assistance. He also ordered Petro to “close up” drug cultivation sites, saying if not “the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely”. Speaking onboard Air Force One, Trump added that he would announce new tariffs on Colombian goods.Colombia’s interior minister, Armando Benedetti, said the remarks were a “threat of invasion or military action against Colombia”. Petro said that Colombia’s five-decade conflict stemmed from “cocaine consumption in the United States” and claimed American contributions had been “meagre and null in recent years”.Texas Republican congressman Chip Roy suggested using the “nuclear option” to end the shutdown that would avoid Senate filibuster requirements which mandate a 60-vote majority to reopen the US government, The Hill reports.“We need to be taking a look at the 60-vote threshold. We really do,” Roy said on Monday.Top Republican senators used this tactic to avoid needing Democrats’ support to confirm a host of Trump nominees in September. South Dakota Republican Senator John Thune, the Senate majority leader, said he would not do this to achieve a continuing resolution that would reopen the government, per the Hill.“At a minimum, why don’t we take a look at it for [continuing resolutions]?” Roy reportedly said. “Why don’t we just say, look, I mean, we have a 50-vote threshold for the budget, we have a 50-vote threshold for reconciliation, why shouldn’t we have a 50-vote threshold to be able to fund the government?”Republicans have supported this 60-vote benchmark when Democrats hold the majority. Thune has said that maintaining the filibuster is among his leading priorities, the Hill reported.“I think Republicans ought to take a long, hard look at the 60-vote threshold, because I think we’re just being beholden to a broken system right now,” Roy also said.Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed concern about eliminating this threshold.”I would be deeply concerned if the Democrats had a bare majority in the Senate right now, Marxist ideology taking over the Democrat party,” Johnson reportedly said earlier this month. “Do I want them to have no safegaurds and no stumbling blocks or hurdles at all in the way of turning us into a communist country? I don’t think that’s a great idea.”While the US Senate is poised to vote – for the 11th time – on a House-approved bill that would reopen the government this afternoon, Americans could face still more shutdown-related travel delays if funding efforts fail.US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday that travelers might see more disruptions because air traffic controllers are not getting paid during the shutdown.Air traffic controllers are deemed “excepted” staffers, meaning they still work during shutdowns, but receive back pay when the government reopens and funding resumes, CBS News explains.“They got a partial paycheck a week ago Tuesday. Their next paycheck comes a week from Tuesday, and in that paycheck there will be no dollars. They don’t get paid,” Duffy said in a Fox and Friends interview.“I think what you might see is more disruptions in travel as more of them look to say, how do I bridge the gap between the check that’s not coming and putting food on my table?” CBS noted him saying. “And we have heard they are taking Uber jobs. They are doing DoorDash, they are figuring out ways to keep their families afloat … And, again, a lot of them are paycheck to paycheck.”Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his threat of imposing a 157% tariff on Chinese imports if both nations can’t reach a trade deal.“We have a tremendous power, and that’s the power of tariff, and I think that China will come to the table and make a very fair deal, because if they don’t, they’re going to be paying us 157% in tariffs,” Trump told reporters during his sit-down with Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese.Trump, who claimed that “China has treated us with great respect” not afforded to prior administrations, said that if a deal weren’t brokered, “I’m putting on an additional 100%” on 1 November.Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping, are expected to meet in several weeks to discuss trade.Trump’s reiteration of this tariff threat comes just several days after he admitted that a 157% tax is unfeasible.“It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo. “It’s probably not, you know, it could stand. But they forced me to do that.”Donald Trump said he didn’t think Ukraine would win back land that was captured by Russia during the war.“They could still win it,” Trump remarked during his meeting with Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese. “I don’t think they will. They could still win it. I never said they would win it. Anything can happen. You know, war is a very strange thing.”Trump’s seeming skepticism of a Ukrainian victory came several days after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he appeared more keen on negotiating a peace agreement than supplying the nation with Tomahawk cruise missiles.Trump told Ukraine and Russia to “stop the war immediately”.The comments mark yet another shift in Trump’s position on Ukraine’s chances in the years-long conflict. Trump said in September that he believed Ukraine could regain all territory seized by Russia.During Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024, and early this year, Trump said that Ukraine would have to give up territories seized by Russia to stop the war, The Associated Press notes.The president has said that Hamas is “going to behave” or will face severe repercussions.“They’re going to be nice, and if they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them,” Trump added.This comes after Israel launched waves of deadly airstrikes on Sunday and cut off all aid into Gaza “until further notice” after a reported attack by Hamas, in escalations that marked the most serious threat so far to the fragile ceasefire in the devastated territory.“Hamas has been very violent, but they don’t have the backing of Iran any more. They don’t have the backing of really anybody any more. They have to be good, and if they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated,” Trump said in the Cabinet Room at the White House. More

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      Australian politicians rally behind ABC journalist after clash with Donald Trump

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      Australia’s politicians have thrown their support behind an ABC journalist who was berated by Donald Trump after asking questions about the US president’s personal business dealings in Washington DC on Tuesday.Trump was answering questions on the White House lawn when he clashed with the ABC’s Americas editor, John Lyons, who said he was reporting for Four Corners.The exchange also appeared to include Trump’s first confirmation he would meet Anthony Albanese for their first face-to-face talks, as part of the PM’s visit to the UN general assembly next week.Lyons asked Trump how much wealthier he had become since returning to the Oval Office for his second term in January, noting that he was regarded as the wealthiest man to occupy the White House.Sign up: AU Breaking News email“I don’t know,” Trump said, explaining that his children were responsible for the family business, the Trump Organization.“But most of the deals that I’ve made were made before,” he said. “This is what I’ve done for a life. I’ve built buildings.”He pointed to the site of a grand ballroom planned for the White House.Lyons then asked whether it was appropriate for a US president to be conducting personal business while in office. “I’m really not, my kids are running the business,” Trump said before asking Lyons where he was from.Trump then accused Lyons of “hurting Australia” with the line of questioning. “In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now. And they want to get along with me.“You know, your leader is coming over to see me very soon. I’m going to tell him about you. You set a very bad tone.“You can set a nicer tone,” Trump said, before telling Lyons: “Quiet.”Australia’s treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said Lyons was “just doing his job”.“I respect the ABC and I respect its independence and that extends to not second-guessing the questions asked legitimately by journalists,” he said.Lyons told the ABC his questions had been “perfectly normal,” describing them as fair, based on research and not asked in an abusive fashion.“If we’ve reached the point where asking those sort of questions prevents you from going into the White House, then I think it’s a very dark day,” he said. “I’ve still got to brace myself for what happens when he tells on me.”David Pocock, an independent senator, called for stronger defences of press freedom and mocked Trump.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“That doesn’t include the leader of another country thinking he can report journos to our PM for asking hard questions,” he posted on X.The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Trump was trying to bully the media and Australia, and demanded Albanese stand up to criticism of Australian journalists.The Liberal senator Sarah Henderson called for the ABC to explain Lyons’ line of questioning, given the importance of trade, defence and national security matters to the Australia-US relationship. Bridget McKenzie, a Nationals frontbencher, defended Lyons.“There’s nothing wrong with journalists asking tough questions,” McKenzie said.Albanese has been seeking a meeting with Trump since the pair’s first talks were abruptly cancelled at the G7 summit in Canada in June. His schedule for the upcoming visit to New York is yet to be confirmed but Australian officials are trying to lock in a time.This week Albanese said he would see Trump at the meeting of world leaders in New York, as well at upcoming international summits.“We’ll see each other in New York,” the prime minister said. “He is hosting a reception on Tuesday night of next week. As well, we’ll see each other at various forums that are taking place between now and the end of the year. It’s summit season.”The meeting is expected to cover urgent issues in the bilateral relationship, including the Pentagon’s review of the Aukus nuclear submarines agreement and Trump’s demands that Australia spend more on defence.Trump and senior US officials have privately urged Australia to commit to spending as much as 3.5% of GDP on defence, a potential $30bn annual increase to the defence spend of about $59bn.The Aukus review – which is being led by the undersecretary of defence and Aukus sceptic, Elbridge Colby – is due to be completed around November. Australia has sent about $1.6bn to the US as part of the agreement. More

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      Scott Morrison to testify before US House panel on China

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      The former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison will testify at a US House panel hearing next week about countering China’s “economic coercion against democracies,” the committee said on Friday.Rahm Emanuel, the former US ambassador to Japan, will also testify before the House select committee on China.Relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network in 2018, cooled further in 2020 after the Morrison government called for an independent investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 virus.China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves described by the United States as “economic coercion”.Morrison was defeated in a bid for reelection in 2022. His successor, Anthony Albanese, visited China this week, underscoring a warming of ties.

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      The prime minister spent this week touring the country with stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu amid a period of geopolitical instability and escalating trade hostilities between the US and its trading partners.Albanese also sniped back at the opposition’s criticism of his “indulgent” six-day visit, pointing out the former Coalition government failed to hold a single phone call with the major trading partner for years.Reuters reported this week that Canberra is close to an agreement with Beijing that would allow Australian suppliers to ship five trial canola cargoes to China, sources familiar with the matter said, a move towards ending a years-long freeze in the trade. China imposed 100% tariffs on Canadian canola meal and oil this year amid strained diplomatic ties.Emanuel, who told a Chicago news outlet last month he is considering a run for president in 2028, has been a harsh critic of China, saying last year Beijing constantly uses coercion and pressures other countries, including Japan and the Philippines.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“Economic coercion by China is their most persistent and pernicious tool in their toolbox,” Emanuel said in a separate speech in 2023.The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment. More

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      US accuses Australia of breaking ‘verbal commitment’ on aluminium exports as Trump weighs tariffs exemption

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      Donald Trump has called Australia’s prime minister a “very fine man” and said he would give “great consideration” to exempting the country from his new 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, after a phone call between the two leaders.It came after comments on Tuesday from the US president that there would be no exceptions or exemptions on the tariffs, which will start on 12 March unless Anthony Albanese can secure an exemption.The official proclamation to impose the aluminium tariff appeared to explain why Australia was not exempted from the outset, with the US accusing Australia of breaking a “verbal commitment” to limit aluminium exports.

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      The new proclamation read: “The volume of U.S. imports of primary aluminum from Australia has also surged and in 2024 was approximately 103% higher than the average volume for 2015 through 2017. Australia has disregarded its verbal commitment to voluntarily restrain its aluminum exports to a reasonable level.”Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull negotiated a carve out from steel and aluminium tariffs during Trump’s first term.Asked about the proclamation on Tuesday night, the deputy prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, told ABC’s 7.30: “I can’t speak for the former government, in terms of what it did or didn’t do … but in the discussion that was had today, in the president’s own press conference, having signed the executive order, he made clear that Australian exemptions to this order would be under active consideration. And that’s where this is now at.”Earlier on Tuesday, Albanese said his second call with Trump had been a “very positive and constructive discussion”, which canvassed the Aukus defence pact, critical minerals and foreign investment between the two countries.Albanese said he had also made the case for Australia to be exempted from tariffs and was hopeful of such an outcome.“If you have a look at what we’ve achieved already, it’s been a tremendous start to the relationship,” Albanese told a press conference in Parliament House.Minutes later, the White House announced that the president was signing executive orders to place a 25% tariff on the imports, stepping up a long-promised trade war.Trump initially said the tariffs would be imposed without exceptions but then confirmed he was giving “great consideration” to an Australian carve-out.Asked about his call with Albanese, Trump called the Australian leader “a very fine man” and noted the US trade surplus with Australia.“We have a surplus with Australia, one of the few … I told him that [exemptions] is something we will give great consideration,” Trump said.The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, also publicly urged the Trump administration to exempt Australia from tariffs, claiming any move to the contrary would “damage the relationship” between the two countries.“Tariffs are not warranted against Australia because we have a trade surplus,” he said.Australian politicians were rocked on Monday when Trump told reporters in the US that he planned to announce new tariffs on all steel and aluminium arriving in America.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe Labor government been bracing for such a decision after Trump levelled similar tariffs in his first term, with senior ministers and officials working behind the scenes for some time to secure exemptions like those secured by the then-Coalition government after months of negotiations in 2018.“Our aluminium is a critical input for manufacturing in the United States,” Albanese said on Tuesday after his call with Trump. “Our steel and aluminium are both key inputs for the US-Australia defence industries in both of our countries.“I presented Australia’s case for an exemption and we agreed on wording to say publicly, which is that the US president agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries.”Albanese would not reveal more about the process by which the exemption would be considered, the timeline by which a decision would be reached, or what Australia would do if the exemption was ultimately rejected. He said he would not speak for Trump but again referred warmly to the Australia-US relationship.“What I envisage is continuing to act to respond diplomatically,” he said. “That’s how you get things done. My government’s got a record of getting things done in Australia’s national interest. I’ll continue to do so.”A US congressman has hit out at any attempt to slap tariffs on Australian products.Joe Courtney, a Democratic politician and co-chair of the Friends of Australia Caucus,, noted that Australia had just this week begun sending payments to Washington as part of the Aukus pact to help bolster the US submarine construction program.“What we’re seeing is a completely needless, almost insult to the people of Australia by raising tariffs of Australian products coming into this country,” Courtney said.The shadow trade minister, Kevin Hogan, suggested that the government should “reach out to whoever may help” Australia secure exemptions, including the former Coalition politicians Scott Morrison and Joe Hockey.“I encourage the prime minister and indeed ambassador [Kevin] Rudd to talk to people like Morrison, people like Hockey,” he told the ABC. “We had a precedent when we got an exemption, they should be using those resources.” More

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      Kevin Rudd will remain as Australia’s ambassador to US, Anthony Albanese says

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      Anthony Albanese says Kevin Rudd will remain as Australia’s ambassador to Washington despite the apparent disquiet about Rudd’s past commentary on president-elect Donald Trump among some in Trump’s inner circle.Albanese is digging in against media speculation that Trump could demand Rudd’s withdrawal or that others in his administration could make the ambassador’s position untenable, insisting he will stay in the job no matter what.“That’s what we’d expect,” he told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

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      “He’s Australia’s appointment,” Albanese said, speaking from the Apec summit in Peru. “And it says something about the importance of the United States that we have appointed a former prime minister. That’s a sign of how seriously we take this relationship, which is a relationship between our peoples based upon our common values.”Albanese declined to say whether Rudd should apologise for past remarks, which included social media posts calling him “the most destructive president in history” and a 2021 interview in which he described Trump in a 2021 interview as “the village idiot” and “not a leading intellectual force”.“We’re focused on the future, and I’m sure President Trump will be as well, and that is the important thing,” Albanese said.The emergence last week of video of the 2021 remarks this week coincided with a social media post from Trump’s now newly appointed deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino, depicting sand running through an hourglass, above a screenshot of the congratulatory message Rudd had issued about Trump’s election win.But Albanese said Rudd had been doing “a terrific job” and would continue in the role.He praised the former prime minister’s work building bipartisan relationships and boosting Australia’s ties in the US capital.“Ambassador, Rudd has been working with people across the political spectrum. He attended both the Republican and the Democrat national conventions and engaged with people across the board. I know that he was in regular contact with the head of the Republican campaign committee as well, as well as the Democrats.”In a separate interview with Sky News, also from Peru, Albanese said his 10-minute congratulatory phone conversation with Trump had been “very constructive and positive” and Rudd was not mentioned.“He’s Australia’s ambassador to Washington, and he’s doing a very important job,” Albanese said. “The work that he did with Aukus was a difficult task to get that through the Congress and the Senate. But when I was there, one of the things that struck me was just how extensive the links that Kevin Rudd had developed at the US, Congress and the Senate were.” More