Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday outlined the dynamics behind his warm relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying he is a straight talker and a good friend who is open about his Christian faith.
Asked in a TV interview what he thinks of Trump, Morrison was quick to point out the positives of their relationship as a partnership between equals. As News.com reports, Morrison said:
It is my job to have very good relationships with all our key partners and allies. I have done that as have my predecessors. That is important, that is in Australia’s national interest.
That is what matters and keeps Australia safe, it protects Australia’s interests, particularly in this part of the world.
Pushed as to what he liked about Trump, Morrison said the United States had been a good friend to Australia for over a century and that was not about to change.
“He has been straight up with me, I can tell you that. He has… been straight up about our relationship and has shown a great interest in Australia,” he said.
The conservative coalition leader was also asked what he thought about Trump “using a Bible, church and religion as a PR stunt.”
“I don’t judge other people’s faith and I don’t invite them to judge mine,” Morrison said, flatly rejecting the premise of the question.
“I think faith is personal and I have always held that as a principle. I leave others to express their faith and how they conduct themselves, that is up to them.”
He said it was not his job to provide running political or other commentary on other leaders around the world.
“They don’t do it to us,” he affirmed.
Australia has had a close relationship with the U.S. through war and peace for well over 100 years, enduring no matter which party was in power in either Canberra or Washington.
As Breitbart News reported, last year Morrison said Australia and America “see the world through the same eyes” and paid elegant tribute to American leadership in the South-West Pacific theater during World War Two, applauding the United States as it “helped secure the freedom we enjoy today” after it joined Australia in turning back Japan from occupying nearby Papua New Guinea.
He said Australia and the U.S. had “always understood each other and stood by each other.”
“Australia believes in what Ronald Reagan called the ‘truths and traditions’ that define the United States,” Morrison said. “We stand together in these self-evident truths. We stand together for personal liberty and freedom. For democracy and the ballot box. For the rule of law, and freedom of association. For free economies and free peoples.”
For his part, Trump welcomed Morrison to the White House last September for an official state visit.
Morrison was just the second world leader to be granted that high diplomatic honor during the Trump administration.
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