One of Donald Trump’s most trusted advisors has taken a jab at Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the United States, hinting that his time in Washington may be coming to an end.
Dan Scavino Jr, who is one of the President-elect’s most senior campaign advisors, responded to Rudd’s congratulatory message on Trump’s election victory with an hourglass GIF on the social media platform X – suggesting that his days in the role might be numbered.
The message from the incoming Trump administration came just weeks after Rudd quietly deleted tweets from the final stretch of the 2020 US election campaign, where he called Trump ‘the most destructive president in history’.
Before he was appointed ambassador to the US in 2023 – by close ally Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – Rudd also labelled Trump a ‘political liability,’ a ‘problem for the world,’ a ‘traitor to the West’ and ‘village idiot’.
Scavino’s social media post suggests that the Trump administration is aware of Rudd’s past hostility toward the new US President – and watching closely.
Despite his past criticism of Trump, Rudd hopes to retain his position in Washington, and has the backing of Mr Albanese, who defended him at a press conference in Tasmania on Tuesday.
‘Ambassador Rudd looks forward to working with President Trump and his team to continue strengthening the US-Australia alliance,’ a statement from Rudd’s office said.
‘In his previous role as the head of an independent US-based think tank, Mr Rudd was a regular commentator on American politics.
‘Following the election of President Trump, Ambassador Rudd has now removed these past commentaries from his personal website and social media channels.’
In a March interview with British politician Nigel Farage aired on GB News, Trump was confronted about Rudd’s nasty comments.
‘The previous Ambassador, Joe Hockey, I think was a good friend of yours, you got along quite well with him, now they’ve appointed Kevin Rudd – I mean he has said the most horrible things.
‘You were a “destructive President”, “a traitor to the west”, and he’s now Australia’s ambassador in Washington, would you take a phone call from him,’ Farage asked.
Trump warned: ‘He won’t be there long if that’s the case.’
‘I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty.
‘I hear he’s not the brightest bulb, but I don’t know much about him. If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.’
Meanwhile, before the US election, Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, said it would be ‘kind of hard’ for the Australian government to keep Rudd in Washington if he hadn’t shown signs of a ‘change of heart’ towards Trump.
‘It’s not my decision, but I do think it would be nice to have a person who appreciates all Donald Trump has gone through to want to serve our country at this moment, this really critical moment in the history of America,’ she told Sky News.
‘Obviously, that is a little bit tough to take, and maybe we would want to choose someone else (for the US embassy top job).’
While Rudd is being haunted by past comments he made about Trump, he isn’t alone among Labor figures in making unflattering remarks about the brash real estate mogul turned politician.
A recently resurfaced 2017 video showed Mr Albanese at a Q&A at Splendour in the Grass when he was serving as Labor’s transport and infrastructure spokesman while in opposition.
Asked how he would ‘deal with Trump’, Albanese replied: ‘With trepidation.’
‘We have an alliance with the US, we’ve got to deal with him, but that doesn’t mean that you’re uncritical about it,’ Albanese said.
‘He (Trump) scares the sh*t out of me and I think it’s of some concern the leader of the free world thinks that you can conduct politics through 140 characters on Twitter overnight.’
Sunrise host Nat Barr suggested Albanese may need to apologise after Trump was voted in as President of the United States for the second time.
‘No, I look forward to working with President Trump,’ he insisted.
‘I’ve demonstrated, I think, my ability to work with world leaders and to develop relationships with them, which are positive.
‘And I think that I’ve demonstrated in the two-and-a-half years that I’ve had the honour of being Prime Minister.’
Scavino Jr worked as a deputy chief of staff for communications in the Trump White House from 2020 to 2021, and previously was in charge of the administration’s social media.
He was a senior advisor to Trump’s election campaign this year and is highly likely to serve a plum role in the next administration, when Trump is sworn in on January 20.
