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President Donald Trump kicked off the week meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and closed out the week jetsetting to Asia. And at home, the White House launched constructing its new ballroom — much to the ire of many Democrats.
Trump said construction started Monday and that the project would be funded privately. The project is estimated to cost $300 million, up from the $200 million estimate first provided in July when the project was unveiled.
“For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!” Trump said in a social media post. “The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!”
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Still, the project has faced criticism as the White House’s historic East Wing was completely demolished. The wing has served as the official entrance to the White House, and is designated as space for the first lady.
On Monday, Trump signaled he wants to expedite outfitting Australia with nuclear submarines under the trilateral agreement between the U.S., Australia and the U.K. that seeks to enhance Australia’s submarine force to deter Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.
The agreement, known as AUKUS, stipulates the U.S. will sell up to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia that are scheduled for delivery as soon as 2032. The deal also outlines that Australia and the U.K. will work to build additional attack submarines for Australia’s fleet.
However, Trump told reporters that he is looking at equipping Australia with the submarines soon, when asked if he was interested in speeding up the process.
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“Well we are doing that, yeah … we have them moving very, very quickly,” Trump told reporters Monday.
However, Trump also said that he didn’t believe the deal was necessary to undermine China.
“I don’t think we’re going to need it,” Trump said about the trilateral agreement. “I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that. First of all, the United States is the strongest military power in the world by far. It’s not even close, not even close. We have the best equipment. We have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that. And I don’t see that at all with President Xi.”
Meanwhile, Trump departed for Asia Friday, as he is slated to meet with Xi during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
The meeting comes amid ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries, which escalated when Beijing announced Oct. 9 it would impose export controls on rare-earth magnets. Rare earth magnets are used in products ranging from electric cars to F-35 fighter jets.
As a result, Trump said the U.S. would impose a new 100% tariff on all Chinese goods, which is slated to take effect Nov. 1.
However, Trump has sought to neutralize tension, and has regularly spoken highly of his relationship with Xi in recent weeks. Additionally, he has said he believes a deal will be reached between the two countries.
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“I think we are going to come out very well and everyone’s going to be very happy,” Trump said Thursday.
Trump and Xi have not met in person since Trump took office in January. Their last meeting took place in June 2019 in Japan.
Trump will also visit Malaysia, Japan and South Korea as part of the trip.
Trump also met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte Wednesday, just after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and after calling off a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump said that he didn’t want a “wasted meeting” with Putin in Hungary, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump didn’t see enough progress toward peace from Russia.
“We canceled the meeting with President Putin,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office with Rutte Wednesday. “It just it didn’t feel right to me. It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I canceled it. But we’ll do it in the future.”
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