Trump take aim at Malcolm Turnbull with a brutal slapdown – after the former PM gave a grim warning about the US President to Daily Mail Australia
Donald Trump has savaged Malcolm Turnbull as a weak leader after the ex-Prime Minister told Daily Mail that Australia can’t rely on the US to defend us against China.
The US commander-in-chief has used his Truth Social platform to attack Mr Turnbull, who was in power during his first term in the White House.
‘Malcolm Turnbull, the former Prime Minister of Australia who was always leading that wonderful country from “behind,” never understood what was going on in China, nor did he have the capacity to do so,’ President Trump said.
‘I always thought he was a weak and ineffective leader and, obviously Australians agreed with me.’
President Trump’s character attack on Truth Social was posted after Mr Turnbull warned Daily Mail Australia the US may not defend Australia militarily in the event of China attacking our shores.
‘You cannot assume anything about Donald Trump – it’s part of his brand to be unpredictable,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Yes, he’s very transactional. I would hope that the United States would always come to our aid under the ANZUS treaty if we were attacked in the Pacific.
‘But Mr Trump has made it very clear, it’s part of his brand, part of his style, to be less predictable and he has certainly been prepared to take on allies.’
Donald Trump has savaged former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as a weak leader after he told Daily Mail the American President would be reluctant to defend Australia against China
The NATO treaty requires all its signatory nations, including the US, UK, Germany, Canada and France, to react militarily if any of its 32-member countries are invaded.
But under the 1951 ANZUS treaty, Americans are only required to consult Australia if another country attacks us, but not necessarily send in troops.
‘Mr Trump is deliberately unpredictable – that’s his style. We cannot assume that the US would come to our aid,’ Mr Turnbull said.
‘The obligation in the event of one party being attacked is to consult – there is no obligation to act.’
In 2018 Mr Turnbull banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from installing the National Broadband Network.
This was a policy the first Trump administration later adopted.
The Trump administration is unlikely to give Australia a reprieve from 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium when they come into force on March 12.
Mr Turnbull was able to secure tariff exemptions in 2018 on Australian steel and aluminium exports based on the argument that the U.S. had a trade surplus with Australia where Australian bought more goods and services from the Americans than they bought from us.
