Politics

Donald down under: President Trump planning his first official visit to Oz

Jun 23, 2018

President Donald Trump is rumoured to be heading to Australia. Source: Getty.

US President Donald Trump looks set to make his first official visit to Australia later this year, with reports suggesting he will head down under on his Air Force One jet.

The 72-year-old leader is said to be considering a visit to Sydney, Canberra and Cairns in November, as he makes his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ summit in Papua New Guinea.

Trump is yet to confirm the news however The Australian is reporting that the American government has already began carrying out security assessments in preparation for the trip, before stating that nothing has been “locked in yet”.

It has also been suggested that Mr. Trump may land in Brisbane, with the official visit giving the American President an opportunity to tour Australia and meet again with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The visit, if confirmed, would be President Trump’s first time down under after his Vice President Mike Pence made the journey in April last year.

However Turnbull and Trump have already met, as the PM visited the White House, with wife Lucy, in February this year to discuss immigration, with the Republican then claiming that he hoped to “follow in the footsteps” of Australia on immigration.

He said: “I’d like to congratulate you on your immigration reforms and on Australia’s merit-based immigration, that protects the interests of Australia and its people. Thats the way to go. Here, we’re working hard to do the same, and we’ll hopefully follow in your footsteps.”

The news comes after a controversial week for the 45th President of the United States, following rising tensions over the immigration crisis currently sweeping the country.

Mr. Trump sparked outrage across the globe with his policy of separating migrant children from their parents who had been caught attempting to cross the border. And the First Lady, Melania Trump, added fuel to the fire on Thursday when she stepped out wearing a controversial jacket bearing the slogan ‘I don’t really care, do u?” for a visit to a children’s detention centre.

On Wednesday President Trump signed an order to stop children being separated from arrested parents, crediting his wife and daughter Ivanka for his change of heart, and confirmed that families would now be detained together. He said: “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.”