The Albanese government has thrown its support behind an Australian journalist who was subjected to a spray and threat from US President Donald Trump.
ABC journalist John Lyons, on assignment for the program Four Corners, quizzed Trump on his business dealings while in office, asking if it was “appropriate” for a sitting president to be engaged in so much personal commerce.
“My kids are running the business,” Trump said, before asking where Lyons was from.
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“The Australians. You’re hurting Australia, right? In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now,” Trump said.
“And they want to get along with me. You know, your leader is coming over to see me very soon. I’m going to tell them about you. You set a very bad tone.”
The Trump administration continued the criticism online after posting a video of the exchange on an official White House account with the caption: ”POTUS smacks down a rude foreign Fake News loser (many such cases).”
https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1967956300241031481
The Trump family has been involved in numerous business undertakings arguably bolstered by the patriarch’s presidential status, including golf course deals and cryptocurrency launches, since the start of Trump’s second term.
Speaking on camera for the ABC later this morning, Lyons addressed the clash.
“If our job as journalists is to hold truth to power, then surely asking legitimate questions politely to the president of the United States should be acceptable, but in this day and age now, it’s not,” he said.
He referenced Donald Trump’s US$15 billion ($22.4 billion) lawsuit announced against the New York Times yesterday, saying it was all part of his “war on the media”.
Lyons defended his questions as fair, research-based, and politely conveyed.
Asked whether he had been banned from White House grounds, he said it would be a “very dark day” if that was the case.
“I don’t think we’ve yet reached that point though,” he said.
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It’s a controversy that has been raised since Trump was first elected president and refused to divest himself of his business interests while in office.
When asked about the exchange at a press conference this afternoon, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Lyons was “just doing his job”.
“I respect the ABC and I respect its independence, and that extends to not second-guessing the questions asked legitimately by journalists at press conferences,” he said.
“Journalists have a job to do, and as far as I can tell, that journalist was just doing his job in Washington DC.
“I don’t second-guess the decisions taken, the questions asked by journalists whether it is in DC or elsewhere. I respect the independence of the ABC.”
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has instead blamed the ABC, which he suggested may have an agenda against the president.
“The ABC need to have a good look at themselves. I mean, what the hell are they doing with the billion dollars a year we give them?” he told Today.
“Our taxes are paying for an Australian journalist to go over to the US and do all this stuff, they get $1 billion a year. Enough’s enough.”
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Remark reignites questions over Trump and Albanese meeting
Trump’s mention – though without naming him – of Anthony Albanese “coming over to see me” has stoked interest once again in a potential face-to-face meeting between the two.
Albanese met Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden swiftly upon taking office, but has yet to score a sit-down with Trump.
The two were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada earlier this year, but Trump left early to oversee what turned out to be a US bombing strike on Iran’s nuclear program.
Albanese has defended the lack of face-to-face time, pointing to several telephone conversations the pair have shared, while Trump has praised Albanese following those calls.
Chalmers reiterated that Trump and Albanese have had four “very warm conversations” over the phone.
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“They will meet in due course. The timing of any meeting will be announced by the prime minister,” he said.
But issues including Trump’s tariffs, particularly on Australian steel and aluminum, as well as the US government’s review of the AUKUS security pact, remain a source of political tension for the prime minister.
Albanese travels to the US on the weekend to attend the United Nations General Assembly next week, where he will formally recognise Palestinian statehood.
No meeting has been publicly confirmed, despite Trump’s comments.
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