Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday he had a “warm conversation” with US President Donald Trump on tariffs and the Aukus defence pact after his centre-left Labor party decisively beat the conservatives in a weekend election.
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Albanese was returned to office for a second term in a stunning comeback against the conservative Liberal-National coalition, which was ahead in polls as recently as February.
“I had a warm and positive conversation with President Trump … and I thank him for his very warm message of congratulations,” Albanese said during a media briefing.
“We talked about how Aukus and tariffs will continue to engage, we will engage with each other on a face-to-face basis at some time in the future. And I thank him for reaching out in such a positive way.”
Albanese’s government in 2023 committed to spend A$368 billion (US$238 billion) over three decades on Aukus, Australia’s biggest ever defence project with the United States and Britain, to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
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