Melania Trump is ‘desperate’ to visit Australia and wants golf-mad husband Donald to arrange official meetings in time for the Presidents Cup in Melbourne
- US First Lady Melania Trump could visit Australia with husband later this year
- Sources claim she’s ‘desperate’ for her and husband Donald to visit in December
- The visit would coincide with the Presidents Cup golf tournament in Melbourne
- Visit would strengthen bond between Trump and Prime Minister Scott Morrison
Donald Trump could make his first trip to Australia as US president later this year with wife Melania in tow.
Senior Washington sources claim the US First Lady is ‘desperate’ to visit Australia and has suggested a pre-Christmas trip to Melbourne to her husband so the couple can attend the prestigious Presidents Cup golf tournament in December.
White House acting chief-of-staff Mick Mulvaney, who has close ties with Australia’s ambassador to Washington, former federal treasurer Joe Hockey, is reportedly working hard to make the trip a reality, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The President has previously expressed interest in attending the biannual tournament between the US and international men’s teams to be held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club December 9-15.
Sources say US First Lady Melania Trump (right) has proposed to her US president husband for the couple to visit Australia when Melbourne plays host to the Presidents Cup later this year
‘I’ll tell you what, I’d like to. It might not be easy, but I’d like to. That’s a big deal. That’s going to be great,’ the golf fanatic told reporters in June.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at the time that he had issued a formal invitation to Mr Trump when the pair met at the G20 Summit in Japan.
‘He is obviously a passionate follower of the sport and the tournament is actually named after the President so I think it would be great for Melbourne and for the tournament,’ Mr Morrison said.
Royal Melbourne Golf Club will play host to the Presidents Cup for the third time since the tournament’s inception in 1994.
A US team led by Tiger Woods will take on the world’s best golfers outside Europe at the tournament, which the US has only lost once.
US President Donald Trump is a golfing enthusiast who’s keen to attend the tournament
The proposed visit is expected to strengthen the growing relationship between the US President and Mr Morrison since their first meeting in late 2018.
That bond will develop further next month when the President and his wife host Mr Morrison and his wife Jenny at a dinner at the White House.
The Prime Minister will become the second foreign leader to have dinner at the White House since President Trump took office in January 2017.
The news of the Trumps’ proposed trip to Australia comes as the Morrison government’s national security committee prepares to consider a request to devote military forces towards a new United States-led mission in the Middle East.
Melania Trump is reportedly pushing for her and her husband to visit Australia this year
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper were in Australia on the weekend to meet with federal Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds and Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
Mr Pompeo has given Australia a number of options for a potential involvement in helping make the Strait of Hormuz safe for international commercial ships passing Iran.
‘We’re not going to take any sudden decisions. We are carefully considering what the request is from the United States,’ Senator Reynolds told reporters.
‘Australia, like so many others, is very reliant on traffic from the Strait of Hormuz. We are keen to ensure shipping can move through there quickly and also securely.
‘For Australia, it’s not a matter of choice between the United States or China.
‘When it comes to China we have a strong and long-standing relationship and with the United States, they remain our strongest ally.’
President Trump wouldn’t be the first controversial American leader to visit Australia.
Democrat Lyndon Johnson faced anti-Vietnam war protesters in 1966 while George W. Bush, a Republican, provoked fierce opposition in 2003 for invading Iraq and overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
Should President Trump visit Australia, he would be the sixth American president to make the trip across the Pacific, as part of an elite group that also includes the recently departed George Bush senior, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
A proposed visit to Australia will strengthen the growing bond between Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) and US President Donald Trump (right)