Prime Minister Anthony Albanese scores Presidential selfie with Donald Trump, locks in White House meetingLatika M BourkeThe NightlyWed, 24 September 2025 3:04PMCommentsCommentsEmail Latika M Bourke
The Prime Minister has finally had his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump in New York with a further official White House visit between Anthony Albanese and the US President locked in for next month.
While Mr Albanese’s hopes for an unofficial sit-down with Mr Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly were dashed earlier this week, he finally spoke — albeit briefly — to the President at a formal reception at the Lotte New York Palace hotel on Tuesday night, local time.
Mr Albanese said the pair had a brief but “good conversation” about their upcoming formal bilateral meeting at the White House set for October 20.
And yesterday afternoon, WA time, he produced proof of their catch-up by posting a selfie with the President showing the two men smiling.
The confirmation of the White House visit would have come as a relief for the Prime Minister after a tense exchange with this journalist hours earlier regarding his communications with the Oval Office and whether they had contributed to the delays in securing a meeting with the US President.
Mr Albanese had earlier expressed annoyance when questioned on his comments during the 2025 Federal election campaign, in which he said he did not have Mr Trump’s number, and that he wasn’t even sure if the US President had a mobile phone.
Turns out, Mr Trump does have a mobile phone, but it is still unclear if Mr Albanese has that number.
This was demonstrated by video of French President Emmanuel Macron calling Mr Trump to seek his assistance in clearing a roadblock that had prevented his own motorcade from moving through Manhattan where world leaders are attending the UN General Assembly.
Mr Macron was seen pulling out his mobile phone to call Mr Trump directly and seek his help in having the road reopened.
The moment made global headlines and also undermined Mr Albanese’s claim during Channel 7’s election debate in late April that Mr Trump did not own a mobile phone.
During that live television exchange, 7NEWS political editor Mark Riley asked the Prime Minister if he had Mr Trump’s number and texted him.
“No. I’m not sure that he has a mobile phone, the US President. Or Joe Biden. It’s not the way it works when you have, with any global leader,” Mr Albanese said at the time.
When asked by The West Australian in New York why he had made this false claim and if his failure to have Mr Trump’s personal number was behind the delay in his securing a meeting with the US President, Mr Albanese became testy.
“I did not say that, I did not say that, don’t verbal me,” the Prime Minister said.
Asked if he wanted to be reminded of his quote, Mr Albanese then insisted that what he originally said was in jest. “If I did, it’s called a joke – humour,” he said.
“Obviously he has a mobile and anyone who actually saw the context would know that. The point I was making was, between leaders of nations you organise phone calls, you have note-takers, you do it in rooms where mobiles aren’t allowed, that’s the point.
“That’s the way that you deal between the United States President and the Australian Prime Minister.”
Asked if he had secured Mr Trump’s mobile now, Mr Albanese said: “I don’t go into those details.”
The Prime Minister denied that not having a direct line to the US President like other world leaders was the reason for Australia having to wait 10 months for a first White House visit, which has been confirmed for October 20.
He rejected outright that this was related to the length of time Australia has had to wait for its first bilateral meeting with Mr Trump.
“No, it’s not,” he said.
An Opposition spokesman told The West that Australians couldn’t trust what the Prime Minister said.
“Anthony Albanese lied to Australians to get through an awkward question in an election and now he’s been caught out,” the spokesman said.
“His pathological dishonesty has been on full display over recent weeks.
“He misled Australians about his failed security deal with Vanuatu, he misled Australians about the defence treaty with PNG, and now we see he’s loose with truth when it comes to our most important ally.
“Honestly, how can anyone trust anything this bloke says?”
Speaking at the New York headquarters of Macquarie Group, Mr Albanese hit back at criticism about his failure to lock in a meeting until now.
“It will be my seventh visit to the United States as Prime Minister,” Mr Albanese said.
“The United States is an important relationship for us and today the meeting, as I foreshadowed, in spite of some of the commentary, as I foreshadowed, if people listen to what we say, we had agreed on a meeting.
“We have a good relationship. We’ve had respectful calls. Australia and the United States are great partners, I expect it to be very constructive.”
Multiple world leaders have forged direct relationships with Mr Trump since his inauguration, including the UK’s Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and French President Mr Macron.
Unlike Mr Albanese, they have all managed to have one-on-one visits with Mr Trump and maintain personal contact.
Hours after being questioned on the issue, Mr Albanese finally managed to speak to Mr Trump in person during the formal reception on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly at the Lotte New York Palace hotel, where the President and First Lady Melania Trump were hosting more than 100 world leaders.
The West Australian has been told the encounter was brief but involved a “good conversation” about their upcoming formal bilateral meeting at the White House.
Mr Albanese’s breakthrough in clinching the Oval Office meeting was first reported by the ABC, which cited White House officials.
It constitutes a significant shift from Mr Albanese who had earlier opted to wait for summit season to try and nab a sit-down with Mr Trump.
This approach backfired at the G7 in June, when Mr Trump left a day early, cancelling commitments made with an array of leaders, including Mr Albanese.
The Trump administration also indicated that it preferred a traditional visit to the White House, which Mr Trump has been busily redecorating since his moving back in to the Oval Office.
Australia’s Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd said the Government was “delighted” to have the White House confirm the visit. Mr Albanese suggested the meeting was locked in when he and Mr Trump last spoke by telephone a fortnight ago.
He said it was understandable that Mr Trump could not fit him into his schedule on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Mr Albanese told a room of investors at Macquarie that Australia was open for business on renewables and free trade, putting him at odds with the climate-change denying position put forward by Mr Trump to the UN General Assembly hours earlier.
Mr Albanese was in the Hall for Mr Trump’s fiery address in which the US President took aim at many policies central to Labor’s platform, including climate change.
Mr Trump said climate change was a “green scam” and that wind and solar had led European nations to the “brink of destruction.”
“I’m telling you that if you don’t get away from the ‘green energy’ scam, your country is going to fail,” Trump told world leaders.
“If you don’t stop people that you’ve never seen before that you have nothing in common with, your country is going to fail”.
The Prime Minister told reporters that it was a privilege to attend Mr Trump’s speech.
“President Trump gave a speech, he’s entitled to give that speech and to put his views, I don’t think there are any views that he hasn’t said before,” he said.
The October visit to the White House will constitute his third trip to the US in four months, amid criticisms from the Opposition that despite the frenetic pace of his overseas travel, Australia has little to show for it.
Mr Albanese had been hoping to meet Mr Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.
But the White House said the President’s very busy schedule for the week did not include the Australian leader, with his contact reduced to his brief chat with Mr Trump at a drinks reception at the Lotte New York Palace hotel alongside more than 100 other world leaders.
It’s understood the President has now returned to the White House.
The October 20 breakthrough will be a huge relief for the Labor Government, which has struggled to make inroads with the White House.
The White House visit will add to the Prime Minister’s already busy overseas travel agenda next month, which will include going to ASEAN and APEC and possibly even a side-trip to Japan.
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