Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull says leaders must stand up to bullies after being lashed by Donald Trump
Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said leaders should ānot give in to bulliesā after he was lashed by Donald Trump in a late-night social media post.
Taking to Truth Social platform just before midnight Sunday night in Washington DC, the US president said Turnbull led Australia from ābehindā and did not understand China.
āMalcolm Turnbull, the former Prime Minister of Australia who was always leading that wonderful country from ābehindā never understood what was going on in China, nor did he have the capacity to do so. I always thought he was a weak and ineffective leader and, obviously, Australianās [sic] agreed with me!!!ā
The post appears to be in response to an interview by Turnbull with Bloomberg in which he said Trumpās chaotic leadership style would benefit China, to the detriment of the US.
āPresident Xi will aim to be the exact opposite of Trump: where Trump is chaotic, he will be consistent. Where Trump is rude and abusive, heāll be respectful. Where Trump is erratic, he will be consistent.ā
Turnbull said the world was seeing an āundilutedā version of Trump in his second term, and that his capricious behaviour would be seen as advantageous for Chinaās president, Xi Jinping, in international relations.
For countries forced to choose between āChina on the one hand, and Trump on the otherā, many would āfind China a more attractive partnerā.
Contacted by the Guardian, Turnbull said his commentary on Bloomberg āspeaks for itselfā.
āHis [Trumpās] post proves that my comments hit the mark,ā the former prime minister said.
Speaking to Sarah Ferguson on ABCās 7.30 on Monday night, Turnbull described Trumpās comments as ārude and abusiveā and doubled down on comments the US president was driving countries closer to China.
āIf Trump abuses them, seeks to bully them, puts crippling tariffs on them, they will naturally edge closer to China,ā the former prime minister said.
But Turnbull also argued that being āsycophanticā towards Trump would not get a desired outcome for leaders around the world either.
āThe reality is – if you suck up to bullies, whether it is … global affairs, or in the playground, you just get more bullying.
āI mean, are we just going to become just a conga line of sycophants creeping through the White House, paying homage to this guy and telling him heās a genius? Itās ludicrous!ā
Turnbull also said he believed Trump regretted offering Turnbullās government an exemption on steel tariffs in 2018 ābecause then he had to give somebody else an exemption and … and before too long, too many countries had an exemptionā.
Turnbull said he believed America would not grant the exemption this time.
āAnd you know, there has been an attempt to set Albanese up to fail on something that he was most unlikely to succeed in,ā he said.
Speaking on ABC RN Breakfast on Tuesday morning, Turnbull said Australia should be āfree to speak the truthā about Trump, rubbishing suggestions it was unwise to criticise the US president as the government scrambles to secure an exemption to the steel and aluminium tariffs, due to be imposed on Thursday.
āAre you suggesting that we should engage in self-censorship in Australia for fear of offending the huge ego of Donald Trump? Turnbull replied when asked if it was ārecklessā to publicly criticise Trump as the tariffs loom over Australia.
āIs that really the state that weāve got to? Surely we should be free to speak the truth. Or are we going to muzzle ourselves for fear of offending Mr Trump?ā
Trump and Turnbull have history. The pair shared an acrimonious phone call in 2017 over the US-Australia refugee swap deal, which had been negotiated by Trumpās predecessor, Barack Obama.
Trump said it was a bad deal and accepting it would make him look like a ādopeā.
āI have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous,ā Trump said shortly before the call ended.
But at other times, the pair have appeared friendly. Turnbull has said previously Trump would mention Kerry Packer every time they met, even during a meeting with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Turnbull was prime minister from 2015 to 2018. He did not lose office at an election but rather through an internal Liberal party spill, when he lost the leadership to Scott Morrison.
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