Former US President Donald Trump has branded Australian Ambassador Kevin Rudd “evil” and predicted he “won’t be around for long” if he defeats Joe Biden in this year’s US election.
In an extraordinary attack on the former prime minister, Mr Trump has suggested he would refuse to work with him if re-elected, after hearing Mr Rudd previously describe Mr Trump as “crazy” and “the most destructive president in history.” “had referred to.
In an interview broadcast on Sky News Australia, conservative British politician Nigel Farage asked Mr Trump if he knew Australia’s ambassador to the US had said “the most terrible things” about him.
“If that’s the case, he won’t be there much longer,” the former president said.
“I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a bit evil. I’ve heard he’s not the brightest, but I don’t know much about him. If he’s hostile at all, he won’t stay there long.”
Mr Rudd has reportedly walked back his criticism of Mr Trump amid predictions that he will return to the White House.
But it wasn’t until three years ago that he spoke out about the Republican on social media.
“The most destructive president in history,” Mr Rudd wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in June 2020.
“He is dragging America and democracy through the mud. He is concerned with stoking divisions, not healing them.
“He abuses Christianity, the church and the Bible to justify violence.”
In 2017, he declared the then American president “crazy” and warned that China could find itself in a potential regional power vacuum.
“I think the general consensus among anyone involved in any political process at home or abroad thinks he is crazy,” Rudd said on ABC questions and answers.
In February 2022, a year before Anthony Albanese appointed him US ambassador, the former Labor leader accused Mr Trump of “rancid betrayal”.
“Donald Trump is a traitor to the West,” he wrote.
A former adviser to Mr Trump recently warned that the former US president did know Mr Rudd.
Steve Bannon served as chief White House strategist under the Trump administration after the 2016 election.
“Ambassador Rudd should know we have his number,” Mr Bannon told Sky News’ Sharri Markson.
“People in the United States and Australia should know that Rudd portrays himself as the world’s expert on China and the Chinese Communist Party.
“I think he was completely wrong so many times.
“He’s trying to get back into favor. He has been very critical of President Trump in the past.”