‘I truly apologize’: Biden says sorry to Australian PM Anthony Albanese for cancelling his trip to Sydney due to looking debt crisis – which killed the Quad meeting at iconic opera house
- President Joe Biden apologized to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in person on Saturday for scrapping his planned trip to Sydney
- Biden was supposed to participate in the Quad summit at Sydney’s iconic opera house and have a bilateral sit-down with the Australian leader
- He had to cancel due to the looming U.S. debt crisis
President Joe Biden apologized to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in person on Saturday for scrapping his planned trip to Sydney due to the looming U.S. debt crisis.
Biden announced Tuesday that he would no longer travel to Australia and Papua New Guinea after the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan for the Quad meeting with leaders of Australia, Japan and India.
Instead the foursome will meet later Saturday night in Hiroshima and his planned bilateral meeting with Albanese happened Saturday afternoon.
‘I’m looking forward to our conversation today and hosting you for an official state visit this year in Washington, D.C. and, again, I truly apologize to you for having you to come here rather than me be in Australia right now,’ Biden told Albanese. ‘But we have a little thing going on at home that we need to pay attention to.’
Albanese said he recognized why there needed to be a schedule change.
President Joe Biden (right) apologized to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) in person on Saturday for scrapping his planned trip to Sydney due to the looming U.S. debt crisis
‘Certainly I understand the circumstances taht led us to hold the Sydney Quad meeting in Hiroshima later this evening but also to catch up with our bilateral that we had scheduled for a few days time,’ the Australian leader told Biden.
Albanese’s first meeting with Biden and the other Quad leaders was the same day he was sworn-in.
On May 23, 2022, Albanese took the oath of office and then jetted to Tokyo to meet with Biden, Modi and Kishida.
‘If you fall asleep while you’re here, it’s OK,’ Biden joked during their first bilateral meeting. ‘I don’t know how you’re doing it.’
The president later kidded, ‘I know you’ve been on the job a long time.’
Biden strengthened the Quad under his leadership as a check on China’s growing power.
Now nearly a year later, Biden is dealing with the fallout of cancelling his planned travel to Australia over the looming debt crisis.
Albanese had booked Sydney’s iconic opera house to host the Quad summit and had hoped that Modi and Kishida would still take the trip down under after Biden bowed out.
But several hours later, the Australian leader called the whole thing off.
Instead, the four Quad leaders will meet on the sidelines of the G7 Saturday night.
The Biden administration said it will also plan a state visit for Albanese, an event expected later this year.
Earlier this month, the White House announced that Modi would receive the third state dinner of the administration, following France and South Korea.
Australia was one of just two countries honored with state dinners during the tenure of former President Donald Trump.
