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July 11, 2025
The Coalition is demanding more details after it was revealed Australia's ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd and Donald Trump had a brief meeting at the President's golf club.
The informal "pull aside" meeting occurred in the dining room of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on January 11 this year.
Answers released on notice from senate estimates on Wednesday also said a diplomatic cable was produced and sent back to Canberra, which would most likely detail the meeting.
"Ambassador Rudd has professional relationships with and has met with a range of senior Administration officials," the document read.
The questions were taken on notice after Liberal senator James Paterson repeatedly quizzed Foreign Minister Penny Wong and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trading during Senate estimates in February.
Senator Paterson, who is the Coalition's finance spokesman, said the answer "barely scratches the surface of what was originally asked in Senate estimates where they engaged in excruciating obfuscation".
"How long was this meeting? What was discussed? Was it prearranged? Have Ambassador Rudd and President Trump spoken since?" he said.
"The Prime Minister himself publicly disclosed this meeting occurred in a radio interview and this is a critical moment in our most important international relationship.
"Australians are entitled to know what on earth happened at this meeting the government seems so sensitive about."