If visiting the iconic Oval Office was a surreal experience for the few Australian journalists handed the bright pink White House "A" pass, rushing through the front gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in a motorcade of sirens and flashing lights must surely have been an out-of-body experience for Malcolm Turnbull.
This, his eleventh international trip since assuming the Prime Ministership in September, must surely have been the pinnacle: more than an hour-long one-on-one with President Barack Obama, followed by a working lunch.
Ushered out of the sub-zero winds and into the White House Press Briefing Room (yes, it is even smaller than it looks on television), the Australian media seemed welcome entertainment for the journalists and camera operators based in arguably the world’s most iconic building.
"I can’t keep up with you guys," laughed one.
"Who’s running your country this week?" teased another.
They’ve got a point.
Malcolm Turnbull is the fourth Australian Prime Minister to visit President Obama at the White House during his eight years in office.
A fact the President made light of when a previous PM came calling, noting with a smile that while politics in America was tough, Down Under, things were brutal.
A crush of cameras gathered outside on the White House terrace, before the doors flung open and the cameras rushed in.
With only a handful of camera crews permitted access, I was tasked with swinging the boom microphone capturing the “remarks” between President and Prime Minister.
SBS News's Brett Mason walks up to the White House in Washington. Source: SBS News
Warned not to bump the antique furniture around which we gathered, it was a challenge live tweeting the exchange in one hand while carefully avoiding lamps and other White House artifacts.
From the outset, the exchange was businesslike, with the exception of a small joke about the weather.
"I will note it's a little bit colder here than it was Down Under," Mr Obama said.
If the President was disappointed Australia had declined a request to join US special forces on the ground in Iraq and Syria, he wasn’t showing it, keen to highlight the historic and ongoing closeness of the two nations.
"The friendship between the United States and Australia is not only based on common economic and geopolitical interests, but it’s also based on an extraordinary affinity and shared values," Mr Obama said.
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Secretary of State John Kerry snuck in unnoticed during the exchange, surprising reporters with a friendly “g’day” as they were ushered from the Oval Office.
In total, the Prime Minister spent close to three hours with President Obama and his advisers.
"I thank you very much for your hospitality, for your generosity, and the way in which - typical of the relations between Australians and Americans - we have been able to speak candidly at all levels of your government, in a common cause, because the values we share are the values not just for these times, but for all time," Mr Turnbull said.
The Prime Minister gifted the 44th President a pool cue made from Australian timber and a page from the June 4, 1863 Sydney Morning Herald, containing a report of a meeting in which Sir Henry Parkes expressing his support for Abraham Lincoln's emancipation fight.
The Prime Minister used his visit to the White House to champion the much maligned Trans-Pacific Partnership.
"The reality is the TPP offers opportunity for the United States and there is very little at risk and so much to gain in the region," he said.
Speaking earlier at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast, Mr Turnbull said he would use a meeting with legislators on Capitol Hill to lobby for support.
"The TTP is important for our world, it is important for America," he said.
"We have championed the Trans-Pacific Partnership and we urge your congress to do so too."
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The Prime Minister met for a private briefing with the Director of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson.
At the Australian Ambassador’s residence, the Prime Minister planted a tree in the front garden, a tradition when each new Prime Minister visits.
He later hosted a reception with Australia’s outgoing Ambassador to the United States, Kim Beazley.
He will be replaced by Mr Turnbull’s former cabinet colleague Joe Hockey, who resigned as federal treasurer and retired from politics when Mr Turnbull successfully challenged for the leadership.
“This time tomorrow I’ll be gone” he joked with reporters.
- with AAP
Brett Mason is the London-based SBS Europe Correspondent and has reported from Prime Minister Turnbull’s visits to Berlin, Turkey, Malta, France and the United States.
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