Anthony Albanese’s Quad Summit on the brink of collapse after Joe Biden’s 4.30am call

Anthony Albanese was blindsided by a 4:30am phone call from US President Joe Biden that could derail his entire Quad Leader’s Summit, due to be held next week at the Sydney Opera House.

The high-stakes diplomatic meeting could be on the verge of collapse amid reports that both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are reconsidering their travel plans over President Biden’s decision.

Mr Biden is in the middle of crucial debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders and should not miss the final phase of negotiations to raise the US borrowing limit of $31.4 trillion.

Mr Biden first called Mr Albanese at 4:30 am on Wednesday to confirm he should withdraws from the Quad leaders summit to be held in Sydney on May 24. He will still attend the G7 in Japan this weekend.

The debt ceiling issue must be resolved by June 1 or the US will fail to pay its debts for the first time in its history – and the week of the Quad summit is the last chance to reach a resolution.

Just hours before his meeting, Mr Albanese had said he was sure the president would make it to Australia.

President Biden was scheduled to address a joint session of Parliament on May 23 — the first of its kind in nine years — and host a bilateral meeting with Mr Albanese to discuss the climate and clean energy transition ahead of the Quad top itself.

As the revelation that President Biden would not attend, The Australian reported that the prime ministers of both India and Japan, Modi and Kishida, are reconsidering their travel plans.

Mr Albanese said talks would take place with both leaders in the next 24 hours on the next steps for the summit. He hopes that both will still be present and that the US will send a senior representative such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken instead of President Biden.

Despite his disappointment, Mr Albanese told ABC Sydney Breakfast that “President Biden stressed the importance of the Quad” and “is”deeply disappointed with some of the actions of some members of Congress and the US Senate’ that have made it impossible for him to attend.

Mr Biden is in the middle of crucial debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders and must not miss the final phase of negotiations to raise the US loan limit of $31.4 trillion

An indication that President Biden’s trip was on the rocks came when national security spokesman John Kirby publicly outlined the agenda for his trip to Japan — which he said would include meetings with each of the Quad countries — which all will also be in Japan.

‘And obviously the domestic priority for the president is, understandably, playing a role in solving those problems,” he said.

“One thing I’m absolutely sure of is that the president certainly wishes this didn’t happen.”

Mr Albanese is confident that Prime Minister Modi will not want to cancel or postpone his trip, both to the Quad itself and to his own events that he has separately organized with Australia’s growing Indian diaspora.

Modi has scheduled an event at the Qudos Bank Arena for next week and some 21,000 guests have registered.

An indication that President Biden’s trip was on the rocks came when national security spokesman John Kirby publicly outlined the agenda for his trip to Japan — which he said would include meetings with each of the Quad countries — which all will also be in Japan.

“The president and I agreed that we would try to reschedule his visit to Australia as soon as possible,” Albanese said in a statement.

Anthony Albanese was blindsided by a 4:30am phone call from US President Joe Biden that could derail his entire Quad Leader’s Summit, due to be held next week at the Sydney Opera House

Mr Albanese is confident that Prime Minister Modi will not want to cancel or postpone his trip, both to the Quad itself and to his own events that he has separately organized with Australia’s growing Indian diaspora.

But last week there were already whispers that President Biden could pull out of the event. President Biden himself said on May 10: “If we somehow got to the root of it and we still hadn’t sorted this out, and the due date was…when I was supposed to be gone, I wouldn’t go . I would stay until this is done.’

The American leader also invited Mr. Albanese to visit the United States. Further details on when that visit will take place will be announced at a later date.

A White House spokesman said, “Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a top priority for the president.

This is essential to our ability to advance our foreign policy objectives and better promote global stability and prosperity.

“We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.”

The decision not to visit Papua New Guinea next week also comes as a major blow, as Biden would have been the first sitting US president to officially tour the country.