Trump move spells trouble for Aussie ambassador

A pick for a senior role in the Trump White House is darkening the shadow over Kevin Rudd’s future as Australia’s ambassador to the US.

Dan Scavino, a longtime close associate of Donald Trump, has been nominated for deputy chief of staff in the US president-elect’s incoming administration.

The move came a day after Mr Scavino suggested Mr Rudd’s time was running out in an ominous social media post.

Mr Scavino sent a GIF of an hourglass to Mr Rudd in response to the Australian envoy’s X post congratulating Mr Trump on winning last week’s election.

The Trump aide’s response came almost a week after Mr Rudd posted the note, and a day after an old video of him calling Mr Trump a “village idiot” was unearthed.

But Tanya Plibersek brushed off concerns that the former Labor prime minister had anything to worry about.

“Kevin Rudd has distinguished himself as ambassador,” the senior minister told Sky News.

“He’s widely recognised as one of the world’s pre-eminent experts on China and particularly on the time of Xi Jinping as leader.

“And we know that people like Malcolm Turnbull, a former Liberal Prime Minister, and other prominent liberals, including former ambassadors, have said that it’s important for Kevin Rudd to remain as ambassador, and it shows Australia’s strength.”

Malcolm Turnbull, who sparred regularly with Mr Rudd in parliament, has thrown his support behind keeping his old Labor rival in the diplomatic posting.

Senior current opposition figures have also backed him.

Despite the apparent friction, the Albanese government has credited Mr Rudd with much of the diplomatic legwork around AUKUS and Australia-US trade.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers earlier this week praised him for setting up dialogue with both Mr Trump’s economic team and senior Biden administration economic figures.

Mr Rudd has also said Mr Trump was “nuts”, the “most destructive president in history” and a “traitor to the West”.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has called Mr Rudd “nasty” and “not the brightest bulb”.

“If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long,” the former president said in an interview earlier this year.