Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will wait a little longer for a second-chance meeting with Donald Trump, amid the continued uncertainty over US involvement in the Middle East.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will represent Australia at next week’s NATO summit in The Hague as planned, with Albanese deciding to skip the meeting.

He had considered making a last-minute dash Europe for the talks, which could have provided an opportunity to meet the US President in person.

It follows Trump skipping out on the planned first face-to-face meeting between the pair on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada earlier this week.

Only 24 hours before they were due to meet, Trump revealed he would leave the event early to deal with escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.

Albanese is keen to meet Trump to try to negotiate an exemption from US tariffs, advocate for the nation’s nuclear submarine deal with the US and UK and discuss defence spending.

Trump is expected to attend the NATO summit. But there is no guarantee he will not cancel at the last second amid volatility in the Middle East.

On Friday, Trump said he would decide whether to get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict “within the next two weeks”.

Liberal senator James Paterson earlier said Albanese should attend NATO regardless of whether he has a Trump meeting lined up or not.

He believed it would allow Albanese to co-ordinate with allies and help support Ukraine in its war against Russia.

It would also present an opportunity to discuss the situation in Iran with European partners, and discuss defence spending.

“If he meets with President Trump on the sidelines, that would be a bonus,” Paterson said.

“But frankly, I think his approach of now waiting seven months to go and see the President and not going to see him in Washington DC, relying on a chance meeting on the sidelines of an international forum, is a very risky strategy.”

Albanese wasn’t the only world leader left hanging at the G7.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky also had talks scheduled with Trump the day after he left.

Albanese instead met senior members of Trump’s economic team, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

The talks involved trade, tariffs and critical minerals – which Australia has considered using as a bargaining chip in US tariff negotiations.

-AAP