Australia is facing the prospect of a Trump administration review demanding it pay more for submarines under the $368 billion AUKUS pact and guarantee the boats support the US in a conflict over Taiwan.
Sources familiar with the review by Trump’s Undersecretary of Defence, Elbridge Colby, believe he intends to urge major changes to the program before Australia can get the nuclear submarines it has been promised.
The review puts Anthony Albanese in a politically difficult position as the prime minister prepares to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during a six-day trip to China next week.
But the Trump administration is not united behind Colby’s thinking, according to former aides, with foreign policy a major sticking point in the Republican Party.