Labor Government Backs Former PM to Remain as Ambassador Despite Trump Criticisms

While senior Labor figures back an appointment many had misgivings over, the Coalition backpedals on its earlier support for the acerbic former PM.

Current Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd, who is also the former Australian prime minister at the Jack Morton Auditorium of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on May 26, 2022. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Senior Australian politicians, including the prime minister, have backed the country’s Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd amid criticism from GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

A U.S. president has the power to revoke an ambassador’s credentials with just a signature.

Speaking to former Brexit leader Nigel Farage on the UK’s GB News earlier this week, Mr. Trump spoke about Mr. Rudd’s scathing criticisms of him.

“I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty. I hear he’s not the brightest bulb. But I don’t know much about him,” the former U.S. president said.

“But if he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.”

Rudd Cutting Loose Against Trump

Before becoming ambassador in March 2023, Mr. Rudd had been open in his dislike of the former president.

In a post still available on his X account, he called Mr. Trump, “The most destructive president in history,” adding that, “He drags America and democracy through the mud. He thrives on fomenting, not healing, division. He abuses Christianity, church and bible to justify violence.”

In other posts, he called Mr. Trump “a traitor to the West,” “nuts,” and accused him of “rancid treachery.”

But the ambassador has continued receiving backing from key Labor figures, while being criticised by the federal Coalition opposition.

Asked at a press conference on March 20 whether Australia would keep its ambassador in place under possible Trump presidency, Labor Foreign Minister Penny Wong replied, “Yes.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks to the media after holding a bilateral meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Parliament House, in Canberra, Australia on March 20, 2024. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

“Mr. Rudd is a very effective ambassador. He’s recognised … across this parliament, as doing an excellent job in advancing Australia’s interests in the United States. I point you in particular to the phenomenal amount of work being done on AUKUS in the period that he [has] been ambassador,” she said.

“He has been active in engaging with members of Congress on both sides of politics and he is a former prime minister, former foreign minister, his experience and skills mean he will be able to work closely with whoever is elected by the American people as the United States president.”

Ms. Wong noted: “Even [Opposition Leader Peter] Dutton has expressed confidence in Mr. Rudd.”

Dutton Claims Earlier Backing ‘Misrepresented’

Asked in February on Sky News whether he could work with Mr. Rudd, Peter Dutton said he would “work very closely with him.”

“I know him, Kevin—I caught up with him when he was in Australia, and he gave us an update as to what he was seeing in Washington. He represented his country well, and we are a few steps down the road. But I think for most Australians, they get it—the importance of the relationship with America is at its height, more so than any period since the second World War.”

Those remarks were brought up in Question Time on March 20 by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Mr. Dutton claimed he was being “misrepresented,” saying, “I did have complimentary things to say about Mr. Rudd, and it is in our national interest to make sure that the ambassador to the United States—our most important strategic alliance partner—is successful, and we will do everything we can to support him.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton makes a statement in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 13, 2023. Martin Ollman/Getty Images

“The point I make is that ... past president Trump ... who likely will be the nominee for the Republican party at the next election in November, has now made very serious comments in relation to Australia’s ambassador. They need to be answered, and Mr. Rudd needs to repair the relationship.”

Some Liberal Party MPs have been scathing of Mr. Trump.

Former Liberal defence industry minister Christopher Pyne wrote in 2020 that Mr. Trump “does not have the emotional equipment to be president” and said a Trump presidency would be “terrifying,” while ex-treasurer Josh Frydenberg called him a “dropkick” in 2015.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull even went as far as to mimic Mr. Trump in front of the press gallery, reported The Guardian.

Labor Divided Over Appointment

Nor has Labor always been so united behind their ambassador.

For instance, Mr. Rudd was Mr. Albanese’s personal choice for the Washington posting, even though there was reportedly considerable opposition to the appointment inside Labor. It is understood that Senator Wong was among those opposed.

An example of what may happen to Mr. Rudd, despite Labor’s determined backing, is offered by the fate of Lord Kim Darroch, the UK’s Ambassador to the United States.

In 2019, leaked diplomatic cables came to light which showed Lord Darroch had described the Trump government as “dysfunctional,” “clumsy and inept,” and “unpredictable.”

In response, Mr. Trump called him a “wacky ambassador that the UK foisted upon the United States” and a “very stupid guy.”

“I don’t know the ambassador but have been told he is a pompous fool,” then-President Trump said.

Lord Darroch resigned a day later.

(L) Ambassador Kim Darroch speaks to guests in Washington, DC., on April 28, 2017. (Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Capitol File Magazine) — (R) President Donald Trump speaks during an East Room event on the environment at the White House in Washington, DC., on July 7, 2019. Alex Wong/Getty Images