The first formal Trump-Ardern meeting
Stuff reports:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will hold a formal bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump in the United States next week.
The meeting will happen on Monday, US time, when she is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly’s Leaders Week.
Ardern has previously met Trump informally on the sidelines of other events and has spoken with him on the phone but has never had a formal one-on-one meeting.
“I’m looking forward to discussing a wide range of international and regional issues with President Trump, including our cooperation in the Pacific and the trade relationship between our countries,” Ardern said in a statement.
This is a good thing. Trump and Ardern comes from different sides of the political spectrum but that doesn’t mean they can’t build a professional relationship which results in positives wins for both NZ and the US.
Both John Key and Helen Clark were adept at forming strong relationships with other world leaders, despite political differences.
I don’t think one should expect anything from one meeting, but as the US turns more and more to protectionism and tariffs, we want the US to not be imposing them on our exporters.