US, Australia sign rare earths deal as Trump promises nuclear-powered attack submarines
Gulf News, October 21, 2025
The two leaders met at the White House to concentrate on a pair of areas — defence and critical minerals — in which Washington and Canberra are cooperating against what they view as an increasingly assertive China.
Albanese said the rare earths deal would lead to $8.5 billion in critical minerals projects in Australia and take relations to the “next level.”
The Australian premier has touted his country’s abundant critical minerals as a way to loosen China’s grip over global supplies of rare earths, which are vital for tech products.
Australia sits on deposits of lithium, cobalt and manganese as well as rare earth metals used in technologies from semiconductors to defence hardware, electric cars and wind turbines.
Investment
The Australian government said it and the US government would each invest more than $1 billion over the next six months, while the White House put the figure at $3 billion between the two countries.
Albanese had also been pushing for progress on the stalled 2021 AUKUS submarine deal between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Washington said earlier this year it was reviewing the deal for at least three Virginia-class nuclear attack subs signed under previous president Joe Biden, but Trump promised Australia would get them.
“The submarines that we’re starting to build for Australia are really moving along,” Trump told reporters as he sat alongside Albanese in the cabinet room of the White House.
“We’ve worked on this long and hard, and we’re starting that process right now. And it’s really moving along very rapidly, very well.”
‘I don’t like you either’
The AUKUS deal could cost Canberra up to $235 billion over the next 30 years. It also includes the technology to build its own vessels in the future.
Australia also had a major bust-up with France after it cancelled a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines from Paris and go with the AUKUS program instead.
The nuclear-powered vessels lie at the heart of Australia’s strategy of improving its long-range strike capabilities in the Pacific, particularly against China.
But the Trump administration said in June it had put AUKUS under review to ensure it aligned with his “America First agenda,” saying it needed to ensure the United States had enough of the subs.
Albanese, meanwhile, managed to ride out an awkward confrontation between Trump and Australia’s ambassador to Washington — former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
Rudd deleted a series of critical social media posts about Trump following the Republican’s election victory last year.
“I don’t like you either. I don’t. And I probably never will,” Trump said to Rudd when a reporter pointed out that the ex-premier was in the room and asked the US president whether he minded the comments.
Australians have a mostly unfavourable view of the Trump administration, polling shows, though the country relies on the United States to balance China’s expanding military clout in the Pacific region……………………https://gulfnews.com/world/americas/us-australia-sign-rare-earths-deal-as-trump-promises-nuclear-powered-attack-submarines-1.500313846
Trump’s public snub of Kevin Rudd leaves Albanese in an awkward spot.
COMMENT. It’s a sad time, when we see our Australian leader joining the rest of the world’s Western leaders, in snivelling sycophancy to America’s nasty deranged clown.
21 October 2025 AIMN Editorial, By Peter Brown, https://theaimn.net/trumps-public-snub-of-kevin-rudd-leaves-albanese-in-an-awkward-spot/
If there was ever a moment to remind Australia how unpredictable Donald Trump can be, it came this morning in Washington. During what was meant to be a routine display of alliance diplomacy, President Trump turned a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese into an uncomfortable spectacle – publicly belittling Australia’s ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd.
The meeting, held in the Cabinet Room and briefly opened to the media, was supposed to focus on AUKUS, trade, and critical minerals. Instead, Trump seized on past comments Rudd had made about him before taking up the ambassador’s post.
“I don’t know him,” Trump said at first when asked about Rudd. But moments later, spotting the ambassador across the room, he called out that he had said bad things. (Rudd has called him a “village idiot,” “political liability” and “traitor to the West.”)
Rudd replied calmly that his remarks were made “before I took this position, Mr President.”
Trump then delivered the line that made headlines: “I don’t like you either. And I probably never will.”
The room fell briefly silent before nervous laughter filled the gap. Albanese, sitting beside Trump, managed a polite smile – the sort that world leaders perfect for moments when diplomacy meets farce.
For the Australian delegation, it was an awkward start. The ambassador is meant to represent Australia’s interests in Washington, not become the focus of the U.S. President’s scorn. Trump’s public jab undermined the seriousness of the visit, distracting from discussions on defence cooperation and trade, and casting a shadow over what Canberra hoped would be a reaffirmation of the alliance.
While the White House described the exchange as “light-hearted,” few in the room saw it that way. The optics were unmistakable: an American president publicly dressing down an allied ambassador in front of his own prime minister.
The embarrassment for Albanese is less about the insult itself and more about what it signals. Trump’s thin-skinned, personal style of politics still dominates his diplomacy. Even close partners can be caught off guard when personality overshadows policy.
For Australia, the episode is a reminder that managing the relationship with Washington in the Trump era means managing Trump himself. Albanese will no doubt downplay the moment, emphasising the “strength and longevity” of the alliance. But the footage of Rudd’s tight smile and Trump’s barbed humour tells its own story.
In the end, the visit may still deliver the necessary outcomes on defence and trade – but it will also be remembered for the moment when the Australian ambassador became the punchline in Trump’s Oval Office show.
Chris Hedges talks with Dave about journalism, censorship and empire.
Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent Chris Hedges sat down with Dave Milner for a lengthy discussion about his cancellation at the National Press Club of Australia, creeping fascism, ICE, and the betrayal of Palestine by Western journalists. 19 Oct 2025
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