One thing Australia must avoid if Trump wins White House

Former Australian Ambassador to the US Joe Hockey says Australia will be in a “much better position” than most other countries if Donald Trump is re-elected – as long as we don’t criticise him.

The former Liberal MP and federal Treasurer said that the 2024 election was now a “real test” for Trump with presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris set to contest the November 5 poll.

Hockey, who spent four years in the US as the Australian ambassador, said that Australia was among Trump’s favourite countries including Israel, France and Saudi Arabia

“The starting point is he likes Australia,” Hockey told a Guardian podcast.

“As long as we don’t openly criticise him or take advantage of him, we’ll be in a really good position.

“We’ll be in a much better starting position than any other country.”

Asked what Trump liked about Australia, Hockey pointed to the fact Australia has taken part in every major conflict alongside the US in over 100 years.

“We carry our weight and do more … He loves that,” Hockey said.

He said after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race for the White House in the wake of a disastrous debate performance and concerns about his cognitive decline, Harris represented a “real test” for Trump.

“Oh, yes, I do, yeah,” Hockey said when asked if he thought Harris could beat Trump.

“Donald Trump can beat Donald Trump.”

Asked about Trump, Mr Hockey said: “He’s the best and worst of himself.”

“In 2020, I think even though he had Covid against him, I think he defeated himself with some of his pre-election behaviour and decisions.

“At a time when America was hit badly with Covid, he spent more time talking about himself then he did really about the American people. And people felt that he wasn’t protecting them, he was protecting himself.”

Mr Hockey said that he believed during the 2020 election, middle America believed Mr Trump was there for his re-election rather than the recovery of the nation.

He said he believed the election would be decided by whether Mr Trump focuses on “what matters to the American people” rather than another “Trump-a-thon”.

Hockey said Trump was good at prosecuting his argument and “getting his message across” and one of the “most incredible communicators of all time”.

He said while Biden had struggled to get his message across, particularly during his brief campaign, Harris was a “good communicator”.