By Alasdair Pal and David Brunnstrom
SYDNEY, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Australia's ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd is stepping down, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday, a year earlier than expected following criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump. Rudd, a former Australian prime minister, is returning to head the Asia Society think tank and will finish his posting in March, Albanese told a news conference. "Australia and the United States are the closest of friends and allies,
and this will never change," he said. "We will continue to take forward the important work that Kevin has done, some of it is, of course, ongoing work."
Rudd had secured continued support for the AUKUS nuclear submarine programme, Australia's largest defence project, from the Trump administration, and negotiated a critical minerals agreement with the U.S., Albanese said. Rudd made several comments criticising Trump before he became ambassador, including calling him "the most destructive president in history." He later deleted that comment from social media when he was appointed ambassador.
When asked during an October event at the White House during a visit by Albanese about Rudd's past comments, Trump gestured to the ambassador across the table and said "I don’t like you either, and I probably never will". Following criticism from Australia's opposition, who called for him to be sacked over his remarks about Trump, Albanese said in October that Rudd would serve out his four-year term.
Albanese said the decision to leave the role early was "entirely Kevin Rudd's decision". An announcement of Rudd's replacement would be made at a later date, he said.
A White House official told Reuters when asked about Rudd's departure: "Ambassador Rudd worked well with President Trump and the administration. We wish him well."
Rudd wrote on social media platform X that he would remain in the United States, working on "the future of U.S.-China relations, which I have always believed to be the core question for the future stability of our region and the world".
He had hosted a dinner for Pentagon Under Secretary of Defence Elbridge Colby, who conducted a review of AUKUS last year, two days ago, Rudd wrote in an earlier post.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal and Kirsty Needham in Sydney and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)
