Joe Hockey’s tip on handling Donald Trump: offer him help

June 16, 2025 | The Australian

Anthony Albanese should ask ­Donald Trump what Australia can do to help the U.S., rather than go to his upcoming meeting with the President with a list of requests or demands, former ambassador to Washington Joe Hockey says.

Ahead of Mr Albanese’s first face-to-face meeting with the President, the Coalition has called on the Labor leader to ensure he walks away with the promise that U.S. tariffs on Australian products will be lifted and the AUKUS ­defense pact upheld.

But Mr Hockey – who developed a good working relationship with Mr Trump – said the way to “disarm” the President would be to enter the meeting with an offer to help him in some way.

“I’d walk in and say, ‘Mr President you’ve got a war in Ukraine to deal with, you’ve got a war in the Middle East to deal with, you’re trying to restructure the biggest economy in the world … everyone that meets you asks for something. I’m here to say, what can I do to help’,” he told the Defending Australia summit in Canberra.

“Donald Trump is very focused on sizing you up immediately, working out whether you are on his side or the other side. And I’d be a little disarming in that sense and do that.”

Mr Hockey added that Mr Trump was the most “open and transparent” political leader he’d ever dealt with. Mr Albanese is expected to meet Mr Trump late on Wednesday, AEST, following a ­series of bilateral engagements with other world leaders.

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