Former President Donald Trump is personally headlining a big-dollar reception next Tuesday evening. Get ready for passionate political debate and an impressive list of big-name speakers at this exciting Congress. The event comes on the heels of a fiery confrontation between Trump and John Lyons, a reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). This confrontation has led to fresh scrutiny of Trump’s previous performance in office, most notably his interaction with the Australians.
In a recent interview, Trump put a finger to his mouth. He called for quiet from Lyons when asked about his fortune. “We don’t know,” Trump said when asked how much more wealthy he’d gotten since coming back to the White House in January, passing off operations of his family’s businesses to his children. This short exchange further highlighted the tension between the former president and the reporter.
Trump’s admin kicked that off by announcing a review of Aukus. This huge submarine deal, at £176 billion (or $239 billion, A$368 billion), is focused on the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. This agreement has been the subject of passionate debate. It heated up further in April when Trump slapped a 10% (or more) tariff on every single Australian export to the U.S., leaving Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to declare that to be “not the move of a friend.”
After being pushed on his foreign business dealings while in office, Trump told Lyons he was “killing the Australia.” He stated that Lyons was “hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me.” This faceoff is just the latest wrinkle in a long history of complicated U.S.-Australia relations.
In direct response to these positive developments, Trump announced immediately upon their approval that he’ll be meeting with Prime Minister Albanese “very soon.” He hopes to confront the crisis head-on in their discussions. He said that they’d be convening in New York City next week. They intend to meet at other venues before year’s end.
Lyons responded to Trump’s accusations, asserting, “For me, it was a perfectly normal thing to do to ask questions that I don’t think were provocative.” His comments underscore the chasm that is emerging between a serious journalistic investigation and the political pushback they face.
That’s why the former president cut short his G20 summit debut in June. He took this step to spend more time on the Israel-Palestine conflict, illustrating the balancing act he finds himself performing on the world stage. As a result, tensions are boiling over both at home and abroad. Next week, all eyes will be on how Trump is received and what he talks about with Albanese.