Why the Trump-Morrison Bond Is Risky Business
letter 127
President Trump personally asked the Australian prime minister to assist an American federal inquiry. We answer your questions.
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It’s been called a bromance, but now the world knows what comes with the closeness Scott Morrison has cultivated with Donald J. Trump: requests for help with partisan politics.
President Trump personally asked Mr. Morrison last month for Australia to assist an American federal inquiry aimed at discrediting the Mueller investigation into foreign interference in the 2016 election. After our New York Times colleagues broke the news Tuesday, Mr. Morrison confirmed the country’s readiness to “assist and cooperate.”
That unleashed anvils of criticism for both Mr. Morrison and Mr. Trump. But is all the attention justified?
Isn’t it normal for Australia to help the United States with an investigation?
In general, yes. Australia and the United States regularly share information as part of the “Five Eyes” intelligence network, and government officials work together on a variety of international law enforcement issues affecting both countries, like drug smuggling, cyberhacking and copyright and intellectual property protection.
The president was trying to use American diplomacy not for subjects of shared interest, but for personal political gain. Hoping to bolster his re-election chances, Mr. Trump called for help in investigating — and ultimately undermining — the investigators who found that Russia had intervened on his behalf in the 2016 election.
Historians of American-Australian relations say they are unaware of any precedent for such a politically driven request.
What does that mean for Morrison?
In practice, Mr. Trump has asked Mr. Morrison to scrutinize his own Liberal Party colleagues as if they were potential enemies.
It all starts with Alexander Downer, Australia’s former chief diplomat in London, who helped kick off the investigation into Russian interference after a Trump adviser told him over drinks that the Russians had reported having dirt on Hillary Clinton. He passed on that information to the Americans and to Canberra, but for some, especially in the world of right-wing conspiracy theorists, Mr. Downer remains a mysterious villain.
He maintains that he was simply doing his job. And most Australian experts point out that calling Mr. Downer a “Clinton errand boy,” as some did this week, denies the well-documented patrician conservatism Mr. Downer has exhibited for decades.
“It is safe to assume that Trump and many people in the United States are not aware of Downer’s history,” said Simon Jackman, head of the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney. “The idea that Downer has malign intent is laughable.”
We don’t know. Neither Mr. Morrison nor Mr. Trump has released a transcript of the call.
The prime minister has insisted that the request was reasonable. “It’s a very unremarkable event,” he said Thursday night after delivering the annual Lowy Lecture in Sydney.
Marise Payne, the foreign minister, has also said that Australia is not being dragged into American politics, but rather “we are working in Australia’s interests and we are working with our closest and most important ally.”
Critics, however, have argued that the Morrison government is choosing loyalty to Mr. Trump over loyalty to a former colleague.
Australia relies on the United States for investment and security, but the biggest threat hanging over the president’s request for help may involve trade.
“Australia enjoys an exemption on steel and aluminum tariffs in the United States right now,” Mr. Jackman told me. “Would Trump put that on the table?”
The Democrats’ decision to move forward with impeachment (here’s how the process works), asserting that Mr. Trump abused his power for political purposes, casts world leaders’ efforts to cozy up to him in a new and darker light.
Especially in Australia, where polls show the vast majority of Australians are not fans of Mr. Trump, a shift toward a more measured approach may be on the way, said John Blaxland, a professor of international security and intelligence studies at the Australian National University.
“There’s a cricket saying, ‘play with a straight bat’ — don’t try and be clever, just do what they ask for and deal with it later,” Mr. Blaxland said. “And I think that’s the case here.”
Tell us what you think of the Trump-Morrison relationship at nytaustralia@nytimes.com, or join the discussion in the NYT Australia Facebook group.
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And Over To You …
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