For months, the Coalition has been demanding that Anthony Albanese meet Donald Trump. Australia was being treated like a “piece of dirt”, according to Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg, and it was Albanese’s fault.

Now that a formal meeting in the White House has been confirmed for October 20, Washington time, the Coalition is hoping fervently that the American president slings mud at the prime minister.

Illustration by Simon LetchCredit:

It should have lots to work with if Albanese does his job properly. Not that he’ll seek an argument. But it’s increasingly difficult to avoid.

The two countries’ values have now diverged more than at any time since we became allies. At core, this is not about politics or policy. It’s about values, the values of a showcase democracy – Australia – in stark contrast with those of an emerging authoritarian state – the US.

“There’s never before been any sense that the two countries are going on separate paths on values,” says James Curran, a historian of the alliance and professor of modern history at Sydney University.

“There were policy differences, but they were always patched up. I think this is unique. We are in uncharted territory – at no point since the signing of ANZUS in 1951 has there been such a vast gulf in values between Australia and the US. No amount of honeyed rhetoric can mask that we are still relying on a great power whose current leader is relentlessly attacking the very pillars of the American experiment.”

Australian prime ministers have always celebrated the alliance based on “shared values” that transcend politics and policy difference. But while Australia’s values haven’t changed, the once-shared beliefs “are all under horrific assault by Trump,” says Curran.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley this week rejected Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood by telling Karl Stefanovic: “We should always stand up for Australia’s national interest, and that aligns us with our major ally, the US.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese marks finally meeting US President Donald Trump with a selfie.Credit: Instagram/@albomp

That was Tuesday. By Friday, Trump had announced a 100 per cent tariff on pharmaceutical imports and Ley had issued a statement that the Coalition “strongly opposes the imposition of tariffs on Australia by the US, and we stand ready to help the government in any way”.

She described the pharma tariffs as a “shocking........

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