Victorious Australian PM holds 'warm' chat with Trump

SYDNEY: Australia's prime minister said Monday he held a "warm" conversation with Donald Trump, days after storming to an election victory partly shaped by voters' distrust of the US president.
Left-leaning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won by a landslide on Saturday, defeating a conservative challenger pilloried by critics for his "Trump-lite" policy offerings.
"I had a warm and positive conversation with President Donald Trump just a short while ago," Labor Party leader Albanese told reporters.
"It was a very warm discussion about the friendship between our two nations that's so important.
"He was fully aware of the outcome and he expressed the desire to continue to work with me in the future," he added, referencing his election win.
The conversation touched on the nations' security alliance, Albanese said, as well as the rollout of punishing US tariffs.
Trump's trade tariffs, and the chaos they unleashed, were far from the only factor in the Labor Party's resounding victory, but analysts said they certainly helped.
Albanese's slow-but-steady leadership resonated at a time of global tumult, analysts said, with voters deserting hard-nosed conservative leader Peter Dutton in droves.
The harshest critics likened Dutton's offering to that of a "Temu Trump", an unflattering comparison to the popular website offering cut-price unbranded goods.
Albanese also confirmed the first trip of his second term would be to neighbouring Indonesia.
"Our region is so important. The relationships that we have built are so important," he said.