Trump and Albanese to Shape US-Australia Alliance in First G7 Summit

Australian PM Anthony Albanese will sit down with US President Donald Trump on the margins of the G7 summit in Canada. It’s their first face-to-face meeting since Trump returned to office. The leaders will discuss the AUKUS defense agreement, escalating trade tariffs, and US calls for increased Australian defense expenditure.

PM Anthony Albanese said the meeting will occur on Tuesday, half-way through the summit.

First Face-to-Face Amid Pressures

PM Anthony Albanese had recently indicated that he was looking forward to a one-on-one meeting with Trump, but he did not provide a timeline. On Saturday, he confirmed the meeting when speaking in Seattle. “We do have a meeting scheduled,” he said. “Clearly, there are problems that the US President is currently facing, but I would hope that we will be able to have a constructive engagement.”

The meeting is at a stressful moment. Washington has just initiated review of the AUKUS agreement. The trilateral agreement signed in 2021 between the US, the UK, and Australia is meant to enhance Indo-Pacific security. It consists of a historic deal for Australia to have nuclear-powered submarines.

AUKUS and Defense Costs Under Review

America has asked Australia to increase its defense budget from 2% to 3.5% of GDP. Albanese confirmed that this issue will be raised in his meeting with Trump. “We’ll increase tariffs, we’ll increase the priority of AUKUS, and we’ll have a conversation as two friends ought,” he added.

Australia has already committed A$368 billion over three decades to the AUKUS submarine agreement. Yet, the Pentagon’s review has injected fresh uncertainty about its future. Canberra restated its commitment, saying it will cooperate very closely with the US during the review.

Strong Alliance Amid Regional Tensions

Anthony Albanese also pointed to previous positive interactions with Trump. “I look forward to building on the very constructive phone conversations that we’ve had,” he said. The two leaders have spoken three times since Trump’s re-election.

On Saturday, in the lead-up to the summit, Australia welcomed a significant U.S. warship to Sydney Harbour. It will join Talisman Sabre, the biggest biennial joint US-Australia military exercise, featuring more than 30,000 troops from 19 nations.

As tensions rise globally, particularly with China’s assertive behavior in the Indo-Pacific, the Albanese-Trump summit may also determine the direction of the future of U.S.-Australia security collaboration.