Julie Bishop creates bad blood with the White House by publicly revealing First Lady Melania Trump once invited her to a ‘ladies’ lunch’ thinking she was the wife of a foreign minister
- Julie Bishop has offended Donald Trump and the First Lady over comments
- Ms Bishop made Melania’s blunder public at the Adelaide Festival last month
- The former foreign minister recalled how Mrs Trump mistook her for a housewife
- She used the anecdote to highlight how commonplace gender assumptions are
Julie Bishop has offended Donald Trump after revealing his wife Melania mistook her for a politician’s wife when she was foreign minister.
Ms Bishop reflected on the incident, which took place at the UN General Assembly in New York in 2017, while speaking at the Adelaide Festival last month.
The former minister told the festival that Mrs Trump thought her partner, David Panton was the foreign minister.
Julie Bishop has offended Donald Trump after recently revealing his wife Melania previously mistook her for a politician’s wife when she was foreign minister
She used the anecdote to highlight how gender assumptions are frequently made, given the scarcity of women in positions of political power in Australia and abroad.
‘Melania, standing by, assumed David was the foreign minister and she said to me: ‘Julie, will you be coming to my ladies’ lunch tomorrow?’ Ms Bishop recalled.
‘And I said “No, David’s going to the partners’ lunch”.’
Ms Bishop said her response appeared to leave the first lady dumbfounded.
‘She thought about that for a while, thinking: ‘Why would Australia’s foreign minister come to the partners’ lunch?’
‘So this went on for a while until the President explained that I was the foreign minister,’ Ms Bishop told the audience at the festival.
Despite using the anecdote to illustrate a valid point, Ms Bishop’s public comments are believed to have offended the President and Mrs Trump, The Australian reported.
The former foreign minister (pictured) told the festival audience Mrs Trump (far right) mistook her as a spouse and her partner, David Panton (left), as the foreign minister
Ms Bishop said her response initially appeared to leave the first lady (pictured) dumbfounded
One senior US source told the publication The White House has raised its objection to the comments directly with the Australian embassy in Washington.
The source said ‘significant damage control’ had been required within the White House following the comments, which are seen as belittling to America’s first family.
Several US publications, including the New York Magazine, have also picked up on Ms Bishop’s comments.
The President is known to be sensitive to personal criticism of himself and his family and it’s not clear whether Ms Bishop’s comments will affect future US relations.
Ms Bishop (pictured left with her partner David Panton) recalled how her role as foreign minister frequently drew stares and disbelief at international security summits
Ms Bishop’s comments could not have come at a worse time as ministers are trying to convince the Trump administration to grant Australia an exemption to the 25 per cent tariff on US imports of automotive parts.
Ms Bishop also recalled how she and Marise Payne, as foreign minister and defence minister respectively, drew stares and disbelief at international security summits.
‘People were quite surprised. They didn’t think that that’s what Australia would have … they thought we were a blokey culture,’ she said.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Ms Bishop and the Australian Embassy in Washington for comment.