Morning everyone. Anthony Albanese’s long-awaited meeting with Donald Trump has happened at last. He won the president’s endorsement of Aukus, the pair signed a $8.5bn critical minerals deal, and Trump praised Albanese as a “great leader”. But diplomats held their breath as the topic of Kevin Rudd came up.
We’re also looking at whether Australia has the skills and personnel to run the Aukus fleet – if there ever is one – plus Gaza officials claim Palestinian prisoners were mutilated by their Israeli captors and Prince Andrew allegedly tried to hire “internet trolls” to hassle Virginia Giuffre.
