If British Labour ministers and officials find dealing with President Donald Trump 2.0 a formidable challenge, their Australian Labor cousins may find the task of working with a president with an elephantine memory for slights even more daunting. As ministers – including Foreign Secretary David Lammy – are rediscovering to their chagrin, you can delete embarrassing social media posts, but they never disappear. That’s something that may cost former Australian prime minister, and now Australia’s ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, his diplomatic career.
Rudd has been posted to Washington for the best part of two years as current Labor prime minister Anthony Albanese’s envoy to the Biden administration. While some in Australia have suggested the endlessly attention-seeking Rudd was appointed to keep him out of Australia and away from meddling in domestic politics, he’s generally recognised as a diligent, even hyperactive, ambassador, working assiduously to cultivate relationships with the administration and both sides of the US congress.
Rudd risks a similar career fate as Darroch’s, but with no consolation prize such as a peerage
Most recently, and with his government’s blessing, the Mandarin-speaking sinologist has taken time out to promote his new book on Xi Jinping and his Chinese Communist party regime, which has been well-received in American foreign policy circles.
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