Anthony Albanese’s plane took off from Canberra on Friday morning without any word on whether he would be meeting Donald Trump.

The same US president who refused to take a phone call from the Australian prime minister six weeks ago is now refusing to confirm a meeting.

Even though Albanese is flying to the US city of Seattle, and then to a G7 Summit in Canada which both Albanese and Trump are expected to attend. So much for the “perfect relationship” that Trump promised Albanese in their one and only phone call.

Illustration by Joe BenkeCredit:

This is the new reality that will pervade every country’s dealing with Trump’s America. Trump is chaos and impulse. Nothing is stable, nothing is safe.

Will he hate you before loving you? Pope Francis was “disgraceful” until the day he became “wonderful”. Or will he love you before hating you? Elon Musk was a “super genius!” until the day he “just went CRAZY!”.

Will a foreign leader succeed in changing Trump’s mind by meeting him? Finland’s President Alexander Stubb persuaded Trump over a game of golf to buy Finnish icebreaking ships rather than make American ones.

Or will a foreign leader be ambushed? South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa wanted to reverse Trump’s decision to cut aid to his country. He needed to debunk Musk’s propaganda about “white genocide”.

Instead, Trump ambushed him with an Oval Office video purporting to prove that “white genocide” was rampant. Trump turned to his staff: “Turn the lights down and just put this on.” The video began with “Kill the white farmer.”

As the US news outlet Axios concluded: “If Trump invites you into his office, enter at your own risk.” To deal with him is an exercise in risk management. Many leaders are minimising risk by avoiding him altogether.

Which is why Albanese left Canberra quite untroubled by the prospect of not meeting the US leader at all. And, if a meeting were to occur, Albanese had no intention of grovelling, no basket of delicacies to offer. Even though Trump tells us that he’s open to........

© The Sydney Morning Herald