A senior adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump has fuelled speculation about the future of Australia’s ambassador to Washington, former prime minister Kevin Rudd, by reposting Rudd’s congratulatory statement to Trump on social media with a gif of an hourglass.
The provocative time-is-running-out post by former Trump deputy chief of staff for communications Dan Scavino reignited suggestions that the incoming president may prefer another Australian representative in Washington when he takes office in January.
Scavino spoke at Trump’s now-infamous Madison Square Garden rally in New York ahead of the election and was billed as a “senior adviser”.
A new video emerged earlier this week of Rudd in an interview in 2021 describing Trump as “a village idiot” and “not a leading intellectual force”. Rudd last week – following the US election – deleted old social media posts criticising Trump.
There are no formal protocols for challenging the status of incumbent foreign diplomats upon a change of US administration.
But Trump has already banished one high-profile diplomat from a significant ally in the past, effectively forcing the withdrawal of then-British ambassador Kim Darroch in 2019 after leaked cables revealed past personal criticisms of the president.
Darroch’s situation was different to Rudd’s because the British ambassador’s criticisms were contemporary, not historical.
Nevertheless, there is now concern in Australian government and diplomatic circles that the personal nature of some of Rudd’s past criticisms of Trump may be a bigger problem than first feared.
Former Australian ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos has urged the government not to withdraw Rudd because of the risk of appearing supine. But he also advised finding a way to publicly walk back Rudd’s criticisms of the incoming president.
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“It would not be a good look to suddenly just yank the ambassador out,” Sinodinos told ABC radio on Wednesday.
“But what is important is two things: not only that the prime minister stand by the ambassador, but also the ambassador and the prime minister have got to explain maybe that those comments are inoperative, because circumstances have changed – that calling him all those names … that’s a bit sort of passe.”
Sinodinos said the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and Rudd should seize the opportunity of the president-elect’s emphatic victory to recalibrate.
“Because the president [elect] has demonstrated his capacity to win elections and to win an extraordinary mandate from the American people, the popular vote, as well as the electoral college and the and the Congress. So maybe he’s not as unsmart or the village idiot that some people think.”
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On Wednesday, the Australian opposition leader, Peter Dutton, appeared to endorse Rudd and praised his efforts.
“It’s important that he does work in our country’s name,” Dutton told ABC radio. “He’s been a very effective contributor to public debate, particularly as a former prime minister. He is well respected, and I hope he’s able to form a relationship with the new administration, as he’s done with the current one.”
While highlighting the former prime minister’s “incredible work ethic”, evident in a meeting the pair had on his own recent trip to Washington, Dutton caveated his praise.
“As you would expect, [Rudd’s] got an incredible work ethic, but he’s made disparaging comments and that’s an issue for the government to deal with,” he said.
“People of both political types have gone to that position. They bring gravitas to the office and I hope that there can be good work done in our country’s name.”
Former prime minister Tony Abbott downplayed Rudd’s criticisms and any risk of US intervention. Abbott said Rudd had done a good job and said some “injudicious things about the incoming president – but a lot of people have”.
“[It would be] unusual for our closest ally to start being prescriptive about who can and can’t be our ambassador,” Abbott said in his podcast Australia’s Future with Tony Abbott.
But he also warned Australia should be “very careful” about criticising a US president or ex-president.
On Tuesday, Dutton had more actively entertained critical questions about Rudd’s future.
“The ambassador has to have a functional working relationship with the administration, whether that’s a Democrat or Republican administration,” Dutton told reporters.. He also pointed to criticisms of Trump by Albanese and the foreign minister, Penny Wong.
Albanese has continued to back Rudd and said he remains the right person for the ambassador role.
