Donald Trump has accused an Australian journalist of “hurting Australia” after the leader was asked about his business deals while in office.
The US president was asked by John Lyons from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) how much wealthier he had become since returning to the White House in January.
“I don’t know,” Trump replied, saying his children handled the family businesses. “In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me.”
Trump said he was going to be meeting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “very soon”, adding, “I’m going to tell him about you. You set a very bad tone.”
When Lyons tried to ask another question, Trump held his index finger to his lips before saying “quiet” and moved away to speak to another journalist.
For months, Albanese has been seeking a meeting with the US president after talks between the pair were cancelled at the last-minute when Trump left the G20 summit in June earlier than expected to deal with the war in the Middle East.
Albanese – who will be in the US for the UN General Assembly next week – told ABC radio on Monday that he and Trump would “see each other in New York”.
“He’s hosting a reception on Tuesday night of next week. And as well, we’ll see each other at various forums that are taking place between now and the end of the year.”
In recent months, US-Australia relations have become strained since the Trump administration announced a review into Aukus, a major submarine deal worth £176bn ($239bn; A$368bn) between the US, UK and Australia which was signed in 2021.
In April, Australia was also hit with a tariff of at least 10% on all exports to the US, which Albanese said was “not the act of a friend”.
Lyons said after the terse response from Trump that it was an “absurd notion” that asking legitimate questions politely would hurt relations between the long-time allies.
“For me, it was a perfectly normal thing to do to ask questions that I don’t think were provocative,” he told the ABC, adding his enquiries were fair, based on research and not asked in an abusive way.
The ABC said his questions were part of an investigation by their Four Corners programme looking into Trump’s business dealings since returning to office.
Shortly after the tense exchange, a social media post on an official White House account showing the response was captioned: Trump “smacks down a rude foreign Fake News loser”.
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