President Donald Trump praised Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as "a good man" following the two leaders' fourth one-on-one telephone conversation, but the pair have not yet held a face-to-face meeting after a planned encounter was cancelled amid a regional security crisis.
Albanese described the latest call, held more than a week before the comments, as "really warm" and said he had "respectful relations" with Trump. The president made the remark to a Nine correspondent as he departed the White House on Friday, Australian time. The White House has not provided an official readout of the exchange.
A planned in-person meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in June was cancelled after an escalation in conflict between Israel and Iran, officials said. Canberra has not confirmed any new bilateral meeting while Albanese prepares to travel to New York later in September for the United Nations General Assembly.
Despite the cordial telephone exchanges, substantive disagreements remain between the two governments. The United States has imposed a tariffs regime that applies a baseline levy of 10 percent to Australian goods and a 50 percent rate on Australian steel and aluminium, an issue Canberra says it will continue to press in talks with Washington.
Tensions also surround the AUKUS security partnership and a multibillion-dollar submarine agreement under which Australia was promised Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines. Canberra is awaiting the findings of a Pentagon review into the deal. Defence analysts cited by Australian media say the Trump administration is unlikely to abandon the proposed $368 billion submarine program but could seek a larger financial contribution from Australia to support U.S. shipbuilding.
Differences have also emerged over Middle East policy. The Australian Labor government moved to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations gathering, a decision that diverged from the U.S. position and prompted expressions of "disappointment and disgust" from figures within the Trump administration, according to Australian reporting.
Debate over defence spending has added to the strains. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles has resisted calls from U.S. officials to sharply increase defence expenditure; a U.S. counterpart, Pete Hegseth, urged a boost to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product. Australia currently spends about 2 percent of GDP on defence and is on a path to increase that to roughly 2.33 percent by 2033–34.
Albanese said Australia would continue to "make its case" on the tariffs and press for progress on AUKUS while sustaining engagement with the United States. He reiterated the relationship with the U.S. remained an important one for Australia and expressed a desire to continue the dialogue established with the Trump administration.
Observers say the combination of personal rapport by phone and unresolved policy disputes reflects a diplomatic balancing act: maintaining high-level engagement while negotiating trade, defence and strategic differences. Any face-to-face meeting at the United Nations or elsewhere would offer an opportunity to clarify outstanding issues, but as of Friday no such meeting had been publicly confirmed by Canberra or the White House.