After four phone calls and a brief encounter at the UN, the long-awaited meeting between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump will finally take place next week.
But what awaits the prime minister in the Oval Office is anyone's guess.
Since Trump returned to the presidency at the start of the year, more than 270 days have passed without an official meeting between the two leaders.
A planned meeting at the G7 summit in Canada in June was cancelled after Trump abruptly left to address developments in the Middle East.
Their only face-to-face meeting so far came on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, which Albanese described as a "warm and engaging chat".
Albanese posted a selfie with Trump after their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Source: Supplied / Instagram
Trump’s second term has already produced several headline-grabbing encounters with world leaders — some cordial, others tense.
Here is how some of these famous meetings went.
Trump, Macron and the handshake
The US president's meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in late February had all the hallmarks of an Oval Office encounter — hugs, firm handshakes and even a few knee pats.
The conversation went more smoothly than the handshake.
The two leaders discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, European security and trade with Macron carefully — and repeatedly — challenging Trump's assertions.
At one point, Trump claimed that “Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They get their money back".
Macron gently placed a hand on his arm and corrected him.
"No, in fact, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60 per cent of the total effort," he said.
"If you believe that, it’s ok with me,” Trump responded.
A letter from the King
A couple of days after Trump's meeting with Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the White House.
Just minutes after Trump called Starmer a "special man" and said the two "get along famously," Starmer reached into his jacket pocket, took out a letter from King Charles, and handed it over to Trump.
"Am I supposed to read it right now?" Trump asked, with a smile on his face.
The letter was an invitation for the US president for an unprecedented second state visit to Britain.
The letter was an invitation for the US president for an unprecedented second state visit to Britain which Trump accepted. Source: Getty / Andrew Harnik
The meeting continued with talks about Ukraine and the trade deal with the US and UK, and during a joint press conference after the meeting, Trump said the countries "could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn't be necessary".
The UK has agreed to a 10 per cent tariff rate, marking the lowest US tariff negotiated by any country that struck a deal with Trump.
'Gambling with World War Three'
Not every world leader has emerged unscathed from a meeting with Trump.
Just days after hosting Starmer and Macron, Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House — and the encounter quickly turned tense.
Before a packed press gallery, a heated exchange broke out that ultimately led to the cancellation of a planned critical minerals agreement.
Wearing his trademark dark long-sleeved shirt, Zelenskyy pressed Trump and US Vice President JD Vance on what they meant by ending the war in Ukraine through "diplomacy" — a question that sparked the blow-up.
"I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country," Vance said.
Zelenskyy shot back: "You have a nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future."
That set Trump off.
"You’re gambling with World War Three," he snapped.
"And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have."
Relations between the pair have since improved.
On Friday, the two leaders had a cordial meeting during which Trump urged Zelenskyy to strike a deal with Russia.
An ambush in the Oval Office
Zelenskyy isn’t the only world leader to have faced turbulence in the Oval Office.
When South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met Trump in May, the meeting began on a friendly note — with talk of golf — before turning sharply confrontational.
The two leaders were discussing trade and critical minerals when Trump abruptly played a video he claimed showed genocide being committed against white South African farmers, forcing them to flee to the United States.
Ramaphosa mostly sat expressionless while the clip was played, and said he had not seen it before.
When he began explaining that crime in South Africa affected everyone and that most victims were black, Trump cut him off.
"The farmers are not black," he said.
The 'very productive' but vague meeting
In mid-August, the highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in Alaska. The almost three-hour meeting was not televised, and the leaders conducted a joint press conference afterwards.
A meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska in August failed to result in a breakthrough. Source: EPA / Gavrill Grigorov
The leaders each spoke for a few minutes and took no questions.
The meeting did not result in a breakthrough in the war in Ukraine, though the pair have agreed to meet in Hungary in the coming weeks.
