On Monday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will meet Donald Trump at the White House. Lee is the 14th leader of a G20 nation to have met with the president since his inauguration seven months ago. Trump has also held at least one (and in some cases several) meetings with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, India, Russia, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and South Africa, as well as the president of the European Commission (which counts as a G20 member).

In June, it was announced that Trump would meet China’s leader Xi Jinping, with whom he already has an established relationship, on a date to be settled. Trump will host Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Washington in the next two months.

Anthony Albanese is still to meet Donald Trump in person.Credit: Artists

The president has also welcomed to the White House, or paid visits to, the leaders of numerous nations outside the G20, including the king of Jordan, the emir of Qatar, the taoiseach of Ireland, the prime minister of Israel, and the presidents of Poland, Finland, Pakistan, El Salvador and, memorably, Ukraine.

Only three G20 nations have yet to secure a meeting with Trump: Brazil, Mexico – and Australia.

The socialist President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, isn’t seeking one. He is savage critic of the Trump administration, which actively supports his predecessor and political enemy Jair Bolsonaro. Continuing tensions resulting from Trump’s closure of America’s southern border make the relationship with Mexico particularly difficult; even so, the two presidents have spoken often though not in person.

It’s an open secret in Washington that the Australian Embassy cannot secure a White House........

© The Sydney Morning Herald