LONDON — The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reportedly been barred from attending a London press conference between Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer after one of the broadcaster's reporters pressed the president on his business dealings while in office. The Guardian reported that the ABC's London bureau was told its accreditation to attend the event had been rescinded for “capacity reasons,” a designation the broadcaster said effectively gates access to the session.
John Lyons, the ABC’s newly minted Americas editor, asked Trump about his private business dealings since resuming office for a second term. “But is it appropriate, President Trump, that a president in office should be engaged in so much business activity?” Lyons asked. Trump answered with a nod to his family’s involvement in his ventures, saying, “Well, I’m really not, my kids are running the businesses.” He then touched on a separate topic, signaling President Trump’s ongoing push for a new White House State Ballroom, which he said he is helping fund.
Lyons then identified himself: “I’m from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, with the Four Corners program.” Trump appeared to shift the mood, telling him, “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.”
The tense exchange comes as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is preparing to travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where he hopes to secure his first face-to-face meeting with Trump. Albanese is slated to have three days next week to press the case, given Trump’s schedule that includes attending the funeral of activist Charlie Kirk in Arizona on Sunday. Trump’s acknowledgement of the possibility of a meeting with Albanese during the exchange with Lyons was seen as the strongest signal yet that the encounter will go ahead, with options including a sideline meeting in New York during the UN gathering or a separate meeting at the White House before Albanese then travels to London for talks with the UK prime minister.
Lyons was appointed Americas editor at the ABC in March after serving as the broadcaster’s global affairs editor, a move the network described as expanding its coverage of U.S. politics and diplomacy at a pivotal moment on the world stage.