The threat of punitive tariffs, critical minerals and the AUKUS partnership – not the future of Kevin Rudd’s ambassadorship – formed the basis of Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s first meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Australia’s argument to avoid Donald Trump’s tariffs and maintain the AUKUS pact was successfully delivered on the first full day of his administration in his top diplomat’s first foreign engagements.

She will join other foreign ministers from the Quad group in talks with new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Analysts have said the meeting is designed to signal that countering Beijing is a top priority for Mr Trump. Read more at straitstimes.com.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Quad counterparts - India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Japan's Takeshi Iwaya, and Australia's Penny Wong - at the US Department of State here on Tuesday.

After the Quad ministerial, Rubio had his first bilateral with Jaishankar, which lasted for more than an hour. India's Ambassador to the US, Vinay Kwatra, was also present in the meeting. Jaishankar also met National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Tuesday.

However, none of the four foreign ministers — Rubio, Australian Penny Wong, Indian S. Jaishankar or Japanese Iwaya Takeshi — spoke as they opened their meeting at the State Department. Instead they stood silent and expressionless in front of their respective flags before journalists were ushered out.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends the vice president?s dinner ahead of the inauguration of Trump, in Washington, U.S., January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.

New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met counterparts Tuesday from Japan, India and Australia on his first day in office, in a sign of solidarity in the face of