The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joins us live now as he wraps up his official visit. Prime Minister, welcome back to the program.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, James. Great to be with you.
GLENDAY: Thank you for your time. Now, lots of analysts have been saying this meeting with Donald Trump is a nine or a ten out of ten. How would you characterise your relationship with the US President now?
PRIME MINISTER: It was a terrific meeting and we got on very well. I had almost three hours with President Trump yesterday. I also had really constructive sit downs with the Secretary of the Treasury, Bessent, and with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. We had dinner last night. I had meetings with more than a couple of dozen people on the Hill this morning, hosted a breakfast with the Friends of Australia Caucus, Republican and Democrat. One of the things that I have found here in the United States is the enormous respect that Australia is held in. But importantly, what we have got out of this meeting is President Trump and I signed an agreement that'll result in $8.5 billion dollars of investment, it's just a start really, of a critical minerals, rare earths framework that we'll have - that means jobs in Australia, it means economic growth, it means more economic resilience. It's really good news because that will lead to, one of the things about rare earths is they're necessary for other products. So there's a flow on impact and benefit for us. And as well, of course, we had the confirmation of the President's very strong support for the AUKUS arrangements and indeed, looking at fast tracking some of those arrangements as well.
GLENDAY: Can I just jump in about the critical minerals deal. Donald Trump said yesterday that in a year from now we'll have so much critical minerals and rare earths, we won't know what to do with it. Is that a bit ambitious? How long is there going to be until we see a payoff from this deal?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we'll have investment within the next six months. We've committed to over $1 billion of investment each. And in a range of projects like the Iluka Project, like the Alcoa Project, which will be Australian, Japanese and American co investment. What we have is projects that are ready to go. This isn't like we started yesterday, this is, we've built a framework, things are ready to go. The Iluka Project, our investment flowed in the last term for that through our National Reconstruction Fund. We want to make sure that there's a sense of urgency here because the quicker that we get things done, the more resilient our economy will be, the more jobs where we will create as well. So, that is why the President was so optimistic. This is about Australia's future. It's about Australia and the United States agreeing to build more things together. And that means more job creation in both of our nations.
GLENDAY: This was a very friendly meeting. You've been pretty clear though for some time that tariffs are not the act of a friend. Did you raise the 10 per cent tariff on Australia at all and did you push for an exemption?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, of course I did. The United States has a different position from Australia when it comes to tariffs. I continue and will always put the case for free and fair trade. I'll always put the case for Australia's interests to be advanced. That's my job. But we do so respectfully and diplomatically - that's how you get outcomes. And it is important to recognise that there's no country in the world has a lower tariff than Australia. And so that's the starting point for the discussions. But we'll continue to engage and we'll continue to put our case forward.
GLENDAY: So, everyone saw what happened in the meeting yesterday with Kevin Rudd. Apparently afterwards there was sort of a meeting of the minds and that was all smoothed over. What happened after Donald Trump was critical of Mr Rudd?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, it was fine. The President said to Kevin Rudd, 'all is forgiven'. You know, it was just some banter that went on, you know, in response to a question that was asked of the President. It wasn't certainly a significant moment. Kevin Rudd was with me in the Oval Office afterwards, after the meeting. We had the press conference, then we had the meeting and then we had time in the Oval Office as well. So all's good. Kevin Rudd's doing a fantastic job and the work that he did into this outcome is certainly recognised by me and recognised by all of his American friends as well.
GLENDAY: Many members of the opposition, including Sussan Ley on our program yesterday, saying that his position is untenable. What do you make of their approach?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I think it's all a bit looking to talk themselves into a story and once again, they had an option of backing the Australian national interest or playing politics. They chose, of course, to play politics, to ignore the critical minerals and rare earths deal, to ignore the constructive relationship that I've built with President Trump over a period of time through the conversations we've had, the correspondence we've had together, ignoring all of that. They ignored the commitments to AUKUS that were being done. I think that they're too busy focused on each other. I'm focused on the Australian national interest. At some time in the future, maybe they'll come around to backing Australia as well.
GLENDAY: Alright, I just want to take you to a domestic political question. We were in Broken Hill last week and there was a lot of concern about the future of Rex. Are you relieved that the airline appears to have found a buyer?
PRIME MINISTER: I am. It's a good thing we intervened to save Rex. Bear this in mind - when we intervened to provide support to make sure that Rex were still able to operate through those regional routes, the Coalition opposed it, they criticised it, and Rex wouldn't exist today were it not for the action of Minister Catherine King and my Government to make sure that those regional communities continue to have access to aviation that's so important, to get to health care, to engage in business as well. These are vital services and it's a good thing that they will continue.
GLENDAY: There were stories during the election campaign. I'm sure you remember one of the debates where there was a bit of a kerfuffle about whether or not you had Donald Trump's number. Do you have it now? Will you be texting with him? Is it that sort of relationship?
PRIME MINISTER: We have a very good relationship and we can talk with each other at any time.
GLENDAY: Okay. And do you know what was going on with the President's Cup? Mr Trump is a very, very big golf fan, he didn't seem to know what the tournament was. And can you actually organise a formal visit for the President to coincide with a big golf tournament, maybe the Australian Open?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll wait and see. But the President, like any US President, would always welcome in Australia. It's not - the first time we had a conversation, I reiterated that. And of course, he would be welcome here, as similarly he welcomed me here. This is my seventh visit to the United States since I was elected as Prime Minister just three and a half years ago. That says something about how important this relationship is for our national security and for our economy.
GLENDAY: Did he, just before I let you go, did express any interest in coming to Australia? Because he's been invited a couple of times, but previously he's spoken about how far away Australia is.
PRIME MINISTER: No, he did. He likes Australians. He's got a big job, of course. He'll be in Malaysia and I'll see him in Malaysia next week at the ASEAN Conference. That's a good thing that President Trump is visiting the ASEAN Conference. US Presidents haven't always gone to every ASEAN meeting and I think that shows that he is very interested in this region. And one of the things we talked about is the role that Australia plays here with the Pacific Island Forum, with ASEAN in our own region. We have three pillars of our foreign policy - the first is our alliance with the United States, the second is that regional engagement, and the third is our support for multilateralism and multilateral forums that are so important for a middle power such as Australia.
GLENDAY: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, thank you so much for joining us from Washington this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks so much. Have a great day.
