US President-elect Donald Trump has invited foreign minister Penny Wong and US ambassador Kevin Rudd to attend his inauguration day.
Senator Wong confirmed she and Mr Rudd will attend Trump’s ceremony – which will air early Tuesday morning in Australia – as well as confirming meetings with a number of key personnel in the US.
Penny Wong confirms she is going to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Senator Wong said she was departing for the US and is looking forward to meeting Mr Trump and key members of the administration.
“I am honoured to be invited to attend President Donald Trump’s inauguration,” Senator Wong said in a statement.
“It is a demonstration of the steadfast alliance between Australia and the United States.
“This early visit will be an important opportunity to discuss how we can advance the benefits of our strong economic and security partnership and expand our cooperation.”
While in Washington, Senator Wong has confirmed she will hold meetings with key members of the Trump administration including secretary of state Marco Rubio.
“I look forward to discussing how we can advance the benefits of our strong economic and security partnership and expand our cooperation,” she said.
Senator Wong’s comments come after Mr Rubio told a US senate committee overseeing his confirmation that he emphatically backed the trilateral defence agreement.
“It is something that I think you’re going to find very strong support for in this administration,” he said.
“This obviously is more defence related, but it’s one example of how we can leverage the power of these partnerships with allies — two, three countries — in some cases broader … to reach outcomes and objectives such as creating a geopolitical and strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”
Ms Wong said she is holding meetings with Quad foreign ministers, including Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
Ms Wong says she is honoured to be able to attend the ceremony. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
“The Foreign Ministers of India and Japan will also attend the inauguration,” Senator Wong said.
“I look forward to engaging with my Quad counterparts. We share an unwavering commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”
Senator Wong spent the week downplaying previous remarks about Mr Trump ahead of the inauguration.
In a previously recorded interview back in 2021 when she was the opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Senator Wong said he US president-elect “was prepared to trash alliances and partnerships for personal political interest”.
However, this week when asked about her past comments, Ms Wong did not directly answer queries instead saying her attendance was about the Australian – US relations.
“Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States, and I’m honoured, on behalf of the country, to have been invited to his inauguration,” she told the ABC.
“I mean, I think people know that I will always stand up for alliances and partnerships.
“That is who we are as Australians. We believe in partnership, Alliance and democracy, and it’s been a great honour to be invited to the inauguration.”