Donald Trump has praised Anthony Albanese as ‘very good’ in the wake of Labor’s landslide election win, while revealing that he has no idea who ran against him.

Speaking to the media at the White House on Monday, Australian time, the US President said he had a good relationship with Australia’s re-elected leader.

“Albanese, I’m very friendly with. I don’t know anything about the election other than the man that won, he’s very good,” Trump said.

“I can only say that he’s been very, very nice to me, very respectful to me.

“I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him, and you know [Albanese and I] have had a very good relationship.”

The president didn’t respond to questions about whether his style of politics had caused Australian voters to desert the Coalition, when it showed signs of mirroring some of his policies such as an attack on working from home arrangements for public servants.

Later during the campaign, outgoing Opposition Leader Peter Dutton sought to distance himself from Trump’s agenda.

Trump’s policies were a key factor in the recent election in Canada, which returned its centre-left government and punished the right-wing opposition, with its leader losing his House of Commons seat.

The Prime Minister has confirmed he has spoken to Trump since Saturday’s win.

“I had a very warm and positive conversation with President Trump,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra, adding that he thanked the US President for “his very warm message of congratulations”.

While Trump hasn’t put out an official statement congratulating Albanese, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media after the election outcome.

“Australia is a valued US friend and a close partner,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “We look forward to continuing to promote freedom and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.”

Congratulations to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his victory in Australia’s federal election. Australia is a valued U.S. friend and a close partner.

We look forward to continuing to promote freedom and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 3, 2025

Trump has been active on his X account Truth Social, announcing a 100 per cent tariff on films made outside the US and calling for the reopening of the notorious Alcatraz in San Francisco.

“REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” he posted on Truth Social. 

“When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm.”

The closure of the federal prison in 1963 was attributed to crumbling infrastructure and the high costs of repairing and supplying the island facility, because everything from fuel to food had to be brought by boat.

It is now one of San Francisco’s most popular tourist destinations.

The prison — infamously inescapable due to the strong ocean currents and cold Pacific waters that surround it — was known as the “The Rock” and housed some of the nation’s most notorious criminals, including gangster Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.

It has long been part of the cultural imagination and has been the subject of numerous movies, including The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.

pic.twitter.com/Uu4axjcsta

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 4, 2025

“Today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ,” Trump wrote.

“For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

The order comes as Trump has been clashing with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, without due process. Trump has also talked about wanting to send American citizens there and to other foreign prisons.

Meanwhile, the US President has also renewed his threat to annex Greenland by military force.

Speaking to US broadcaster NBC, Trump said the US needed the large Arctic island “very badly” for national security and declined to rule out the use of military force: “I don’t rule it out. I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything.

“Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”

-with Reuters