Trump, Australia PM talk trade, ties with China

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US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull sought to repair their relationship as the pair met for the first time in Washington where they talked about bilateral ties, trade and China.

US-Australian 'mateship'

The Washington meeting came as the two countries mark 100 years of what the leaders called their “mateship.”

Both praised the more than century-old relationship. Turnbull, a former Goldman Sachs banker, thanked Trump and first lady Melania for their "hospitality and friendship."

"It's 100 years of mateship we are celebrating, 100 years since the first time American and Australian soldiers went into battle together," he said.

Trump picked up his guest's reference to 100 years of US-Australian "mateship," saying it was "a term that you used very beautifully, Mr prime minister."

The president suggested he wanted to visit Australia soon and said it was "an honor to have Prime Minister Turnbull, Mrs Turnbull – friends of mine and friends of Melania's for actually quite some time."

President Donald Trump, center right, and first lady Melania Trump, right, greet Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy Turnbull of Australia in the Oval Office of the White House on February 23, 2018. /VCG Photo

"The relationship that we have with Australia is a terrific relationship and probably stronger now than ever before, maybe because of our relationship, our friendship," Trump said, seemingly having forgotten an infamously bad-tempered telephone call early on in his presidency.

Eight days into office, Trump spoke by phone with Turnbull, reportedly berating the Australian leader for some of his policies before cutting short what was described as a “most unpleasant call.”

Then, in July, Turnbull mocked Trump at a national press gala. “Donald and I, we are winning in the polls,” Turnbull joked. “We are winning so much. Not the fake polls – we aren’t winning in those. We are winning in the real polls.” The audience laughed as Turnbull continued. “I have this Russian guy. Believe me, it’s true.”

Trans-Pacific Partnership

Trump and Turnbull have a lot in common. Both are multi-millionaires turned conservative politicians who strongly promote pro-business policies, domestically and abroad. But while the Australian prime minister is a vocal proponent of the multinational Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the US president pulled out of TPP negotiations during his first month in office.

US President Donald Trump listens to remarks by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (L) during joint press conference in the East Room of the White House on February 23, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

Australia and 10 other countries are expected to sign a revised version of TPP next month. Nearly two dozen provisions that had been included at the behest of Washington have since been revised or removed.

At the White House on Friday, in a joint press conference alongside Turnbull, Trump suggested there was still room for the US in the agreement.

"TPP was a very bad deal for the United States,” President Trump said. “It would have cost us tremendous amounts of jobs. It would have been bad. There’s a possibility we would go in, but they would be offering us a much better deal.”

Ties with China

China’s rising global power was also on the agenda for the White House talks.

"There are people that want to try to paint the United States and its allies like Australia as being against China in some sort of rerun of the Cold War,” Turnbull told reporters. “But ... that is not accurate.”

Trump said that US ties with Beijing have improved, but warned that the relationship could be derailed over trade disputes.

“That can be the only thing that can get in the way of a truly long-term great relationship, because we have all the ingredients for friendship,” he said.

Trump said he believed in the principle of reciprocity. “If they do something to us,” Trump said, “we do something to them.”

Still, Trump lauded his personal friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said relations between the US and China are better than ever.

Turnbull’s relationship with China – Australia’s biggest trading partner – is a bit rockier. In December, the prime minister said his government would introduce new measures to prevent alleged Chinese interference in Australian politics. Beijing rejected the accusation and lodged an official complaint.

(CGTN’s Roee Ruttenberg also contributed to this story.)

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