Plenty for Trump, PM

But a single tweet could derail important White House meeting

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull and US President Donald Trump will not lack conversation topics when they meet at the White House on Friday.

There’s Mr Trump’s apparent softening on the Trans-Pacific Partnership as his Republican congressional colleagues plus farmers across America call for him to sign back up to the huge free trade deal with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and seven other nations.

There is also the alarming picture painted by the president’s pick for US Ambassador to Australia, Admiral Harry Harris, last week about China’s rapid military expansion and the belief North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is aimed at blackmailing South Korea into unifying into a single communist nation.

The Australian foreign policy white paper and the US National Defense Strategy both view China and Russia as potential threats to global security.

Also in the works is a joint regional infrastructure scheme led by the US, Australia, India and Japan to counter China’s One Belt One Road initiative and the proposed Indo-Pacific security alliance between the four nations.

Immigration could be a talking point, with the Trump Administration repeatedly praising Australia’s meritbased immigration as better than the US green card lottery.

Gun control – Australia’s success and America’s indifference – could hover over the talks with teenage student survivors of last week’s Parkland, Florida school shooting massacre launching a nationwide campaign for change.

And, of course, no matter how carefully the schedule is planned for the White House meeting, the visit always has the potential to be derailed by a single Trump tweet, a new porn star scandal, a Washington Post exclusive or a new indictment delivered by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Mr Turnbull is accompanied by four premiers and two territory leaders plus key business leaders.

Many of them will attend the annual meeting of 40-plus US state governors.