Trump, Turnbull don't have to be friends

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop expects Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull will find a lot in common when they meet face-to-face in New York.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop believes Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull don't have to become best friends, but she expects they will find a lot in common.

The pair is due to sit down in New York on the sidelines of an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea - their first meeting since an infamous heated phone call earlier in the year.

"They don't have to be best friends, but of course they will be gracious towards each other," Ms Bishop told ABC radio ahead of Mr Turnbull's arrival in the Big Apple later on Thursday.

"I have no doubt that the prime minister and President Trump will find a lot in common, I'm sure they'll get along well."

Ms Bishop said the call, which Mr Trump described as the worst leader's call of the day, should not be overstated.

"It was a new administration, briefings were coming from across the administration and there was a moment when the president expressed less than admiration for an agreement that the previous administration has entered into."

The important thing was the Trump administration honouring the agreement to take refugees from Manus Island and Nauru.

Ms Bishop is looking forward to welcoming her US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for the two nations' annual catch-up.

She's also sure the president understands the US-Australian relationship is more important than who occupies the White House.

There was no better illustration of the relationship than the Battle of the Coral Sea.

"The historic setting of the prime minister's meeting with President Trump is also very important," Ms Bishop said.

The two leaders are meeting on the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Intrepid on the Hudson River.

Mr Turnbull will be bearing a jarrah timber box handmade in Bungendore outside Canberra to hold a dozen golf balls for the president.


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Source: AAP



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