If there's one thing Donald Trump admires, it's an against-the-odds winner.
The US president was effusive in his praise for Scott Morrison in their first meeting after the prime minister's surprise election victory.
While he didn't drop the "ScoMo" nickname Japanese leader Shinzo Abe used earlier in the day, Mr Trump raved about the "tremendous" and "fantastic" victory he says he saw coming.
"They called it an upset, but I don't call it an upset. You probably didn't. Your wife didn't call it an upset," he told Mr Morrison at the Thursday dinner, to laughter.
Talk also turned to golf, with an Australian reporter throwing out a question to Mr Trump whether he would attend the President's Cup tournament in Melbourne in December.
"It might not be easy, but I'd like to," the president replied.
"That's a big deal. That's going to be great. That's going to be great."
That parlayed into a formal invitation from Mr Morrison for the president to make his first visit down under.
"I'm sure that he could do a patch on the commentary there as well, his encyclopedic knowledge of the game is very strong," Mr Morrison told Sky News on Friday.
But the rugby league-loving prime minister conceded he might have to go back to school to brush up his own golfing skills.
The pair sat opposite each other at a long table in an Osaka hotel, flanked by their inner circle of advisors.
Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka, who works in the White House, and her husband Jared Kushner were present.
After the warm start, media were ushered out and talk turned to more serious topics, with Mr Morrison urging the president to come to a deal with China over trade and stem the damage to the global economy.
The talks ran for longer than the scheduled hour.
