Trump shreds Australian ambassador Kevin Rudd over past insults during rare-earth deal signing

WASHINGTON, DC: President Trump didn't hold back as he confronted an Australian politician for his past remarks about him.

During what was supposed to be a celebratory White House moment Monday, October 20, the POTUS torched Australia’s top diplomat, Kevin Rudd, right in front of visiting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the cameras for trashing him years earlier.

Trump roasts Kevin Rudd into submission

The moment unfolded after Trump and Albanese had just inked a multi-billion-dollar deal on rare-earth and critical minerals, a pact aimed at cutting China’s chokehold on the global supply chain.

But things took an awkward turn when a reporter mentioned that Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to Washington and former prime minister, had once slammed Trump in public.

“Did an ambassador say something bad about me?” Trump asked Albanese. “Where is he? Is he still working for you?”

Albanese had no choice but to point out that Rudd was sitting across the table.

Trump locked eyes with the Aussie diplomat and pressed, “You said bad?” Rudd began a diplomatic damage-control attempt. “Before I took this position, Mr President.." he said, but didn’t get far.

Trump cut him off mid-sentence. “I don’t like you either. I don’t. And I probably never will," he declared, before turning to a reporter for the next question.

Kevin Rudd's past statements about Trump

For those wondering why Trump went scorched-earth, the receipts on Rudd’s anti-Trump tirades are loud and clear.

Back in 2021, footage from a webinar with Indian politician Dr Shashi Tharoor showed Rudd calling the US under Trump “increasingly incompetent.” 

“The United States, in the past four years, has been run by a village idiot,” Rudd said at the time. “People have seen China continuing to be competent in its national statecraft and the United States increasingly incompetent in its national statecraft under Trump.”

In 2022, Rudd joined another political science webinar at Duke University and kept the punches coming.

“Donald Trump had a habit of wanting to shred most of the allies in terms of their political standing and cause doubted uncertainty as to whether he'd actually have their back if a crisis emerged,” Rudd said. “But the underpinnings of (the Trans-Pacific Partnership) was still incoherent because Trump himself was incoherent, and he waxed and waned from being in love with dictators to not knowing what he wanted from dictators.”

Rudd has reportedly also branded Trump the “most destructive president in history."

The $2 billion rare-earth deal

Despite the White House drama, Trump and Albanese managed to pull off a major win on the global stage. The joint commitment is expected to reshape the rare-earth minerals market and reduce dependence on China.

The two leaders announced a framework to boost cooperation on mining and processing rare-earth and critical minerals, materials vital for high-tech products like smartphones, electric vehicles, and defense systems.

Both countries pledged a combined $2 billion in investments to “identify projects of interest to address gaps in priority supply chains” and to “accelerate, streamline, or deregulate permitting timelines.”

According to the agreement, within six months both sides will take “measures to provide at least $1 billion in financing to projects located in each of the United States and Australia expected to generate end product for delivery to buyers in the United States and Australia.”

The deal also calls for a high-level gathering of executive-branch leaders within 180 days to map out next steps, including how “to promote investment in mining.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online