Trump to Meet Australian PM Albanese in Washington on October 20

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on October 20 in Washington, marking the first summit between the two security allies since Trump’s latest election. Both leaders have significant topics to cover, including the multi-billion dollar AUKUS project, which also involves Britain. The initiative aims to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines to counter China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region and is currently under review by the Pentagon.
Australia and the United States share a strong partnership. Albanese told reporters in New York on Tuesday, confirming the meeting,

“Australia and the United States are great partners. I expect it to be very constructive.”

Later, he posted a selfie on Instagram of the two leaders together at a reception in New York that evening, writing:

“Good to chat with President Donald Trump at US welcome reception for world leaders.”

Albanese is attending the United Nations General Assembly for the first time, where he recognised Palestinian statehood on Sunday. He will promote Australia’s ban on social media for children on Wednesday and seek support for Australia and Pacific Island nations hosting the COP31 climate summit amid resistance from Turkiye.
Re-elected as leader of a centre-left Labor government in a May national election, Albanese has faced criticism domestically for not yet meeting Trump, after a scheduled meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in June was canceled when the president left early.
U.S. Under Secretary of Defence Elbridge Colby, a public critic of AUKUS, is leading the Pentagon review. He said last year that submarines were a scarce, critical commodity and that U.S. industry could not produce enough to meet American demand.
On Tuesday, a senior U.S. State Department official said he understood the review would be completed in the autumn and involved wide coordination between the Pentagon, the State Department, and other agencies.

“Ultimately, what this is about is making sure that AUKUS benefits America and that the United States Government writ large is in full support behind it,” the official told reporters.

Australia, which has already paid about $1 billion as part of ongoing contributions to support the expansion of American submarine shipyards, remains confident AUKUS will proceed. Under pressure from Washington to increase defence spending, Australia recently announced an additional A$12 billion ($8 billion) to upgrade a shipyard in Western Australia for AUKUS submarine maintenance.