It’s perhaps the least expected outcome of the Albanese summit with Trump. After all the hysteria, harmony.

Trump praised the Australian people: “Love them.” The Australian alliance: “There’s never been anybody better.” And the Australian leader: “A great prime minister.”

Kevin Rudd, in a duo with Trump, provided comic relief. “Which misses the point – that this was an entirely successful meeting and credit goes to the ambassador [Rudd] and the US government,” as Charles Edel, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump in the White House. Credit: AP

The Coalition, struggling to find fault with Albanese, renewed its ritual calls for Rudd to be replaced. The Coalition can’t see past its own tribal fetishes.

Have they breathed a word of criticism against Trump for failing to appoint an ambassador to Australia? No. Have they suggested a better alternative to Rudd? No. So should we take them seriously? The question answers itself.

Beneath the superficial, the two leaders in the White House actually toughened the hard underlying structures of the alliance.

The critical minerals co-development deal and the defence commitments sealed between Albanese and Trump have welded the two nations more strongly together.

That’s why the former Labor leader, former ambassador to Washington and alliance aficionado, Kim Beazley, called it “a red letter day”.

But it’s not because of mutual love and affection. It’s because of China. Australia and America have drawn closer this week because of mutual anxiety and hostility towards Beijing.

The alliance........

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