Washington: And so, with the advent of Donald Trump's America First presidency, an Australian diplomatic tradition dies.
No matter the differences between Washington and Canberra or personal disinterest between the respective leaders, any past prime minister could rely on any president to make the phone calls and visits look dignified and diplomatic, as befits a "special relationship".
![Donald Trump reportedly accused Malcolm Turnbull of sending him "the next Boston bomber".](/web/20170202112719im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/2/n/n/4/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu42md.png/1486030583116.jpg)
But the new reality is that Trump and his team will throw anyone under the bus to make the new president look good. So it behooves Australian politicians not to go through the pretence, by omission or commission, that everything is hunky dory.
Turnbull would have Australians believe that his weekend phone call had been a meeting of minds – a successful exchange between important men, which was why he couldn't possibly comment, as other world leaders did, on Trump's controversial migration crackdown.
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull refuses to disclose details of his phone conversation with Donald Trump.](/web/20170202112719im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/3/x/l/s/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu42md.png/1486030583116.jpg)
The truth, it seems, is that it was a bloody awful phone call. As Trump cut Turnbull short, the Australian must have figured that by saying nothing about the call publicly, that old gossamer illusion of ANZUS intimacy and sharing would prevail – and that he would be spared a public humiliation.
But Donald Trump doesn't "make nice", as Americans say.
He belittled British Prime Minister Theresa May – treating her with indifference as he lionised the Brexit bunch; lectured her on diplomatic appointments; and was rude in his diplomacy, telling her to drop in, if she was in this part of the world.
Trump mocks German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for her acceptance of massive numbers of refugees; threatens German BMW with tariffs; threatens to walk away from NATO; and cheers the possible disintegration of the European Union, of which he speaks as though it is a global mafia.
![Mr Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn, cenre, and chief strategist Steve Bannon listen in on the ...](/web/20170202112719im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/0/r/g/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu42md.png/1486030583116.jpg)
He goads the Chinese; his team is warning Tehran that "as of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice"; and he treats Mexico, the US' third biggest trading partner, as a peon.
There's a lesson for Turnbull in the responses of other leaders – it's best to put the truth out there.
![Illustration: Ron Tandberg](/web/20170202112719im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/4/a/8/u/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gu42md.png/1486030583116.jpg)
So Merkel issued an early warning that cooperation between Berlin and Washington would depend on genuine respect for shared values; and when she spoke to Trump in the weekend, she lectured him on his obligations to refugees under the Geneva Conventions.
And as Trump made more of a mess last week of his insistence that Mexico will pay for his proposed southern border wall, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called Trump's bluff, cancelled a meeting that was to take place between the two leaders this week.
May, by contrast, tried to "make nice", inviting Trump to Britain to meet the Queen and to address the British Parliament – but she went home to a storm of protest, including a petition with closing on 2 million signatures, which demands that she withdraw her invitation for Trump to make a state visit.
America First is not about alliances so much as deal. So in a matter of days, Washington has gone on a combative footing with Beijing and Tehran, with Trump also suggesting that maybe he'd invade Mexico and even invade Iraq again – making sure this time to commandeer the oil resources.
Turnbull almost got away with remaining silent on the Trump call – the old diplomatic sensibilities kicked in and the White House at first issued a sanitised account of the phone call – which was the usual "blah, blah, blah…enduring strength…closeness…critical for world peace…Australia/America loves us".
But if Trump wants to be a bully on the world stage, he needs victims; and a bully is only as good as his reputation – so his victims must be humiliated by the telling of their humiliation, either in a tweet or, as in this case, a background briefing to The Washington Post.
Infuriating for Turnbull, it didn't have to be Australia. The Trump team could have just as easily slipped the name of any other leader into their account of how tough the new president is.
The United Nations is another global institution that commands little or no respect in the Trump White House. And when a European diplomat bravely attempted to impress the importance of the UN on the Trump team at a recent meeting, the response was revealing.
Jason Greenblatt, formerly Trump's in-house lawyer and now his chief of international negotiations, brushed aside the nonsense of the UN. According to The Washington Post, he told the diplomat: "we are business people – we're not going to govern this country with diplomatic niceties. We're going to govern it as a business."
Mr Turnbull, you have been warned.
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