Biden says sorry to Australian PM Anthony Albanese for cancelling his trip to Sydney

President Joe Biden personally apologized to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday for canceling his planned trip to Sydney due to the looming US debt crisis.

Biden announced on Tuesday that after the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan, he would no longer travel to Australia and Papua New Guinea for the Quad meeting with leaders from Australia, Japan and India.

Instead, the foursome will meet in Hiroshima later Saturday night and his planned bilateral meeting with Albanians took place Saturday afternoon.

“I look forward to our conversation today and hosting you for an official state visit this year in Washington, D.C., and again, I sincerely apologize for coming here instead of me being in Australia right now,” he said. Biden. said Albanian. “But we have a little thing at home that we need to watch out for.”

Albanese said he understood why a schedule change was needed.

“I certainly understand the circumstances that led us to hold the Sydney Quad meeting in Hiroshima later this evening, but also to catch up on our bilateral meeting that we had scheduled for a few days,” the Australian leader told Biden.

Albanian’s first meeting with Biden and the other Quad leaders was on the same day he was sworn in.

On May 23, 2022, the Albanians took the oath of office and then flew to Tokyo to meet with Biden, Modi and Kishida.

“If you fall asleep while you’re here, it’s okay,” Biden joked during their first bilateral meeting. “I don’t know how you do it.”

The president later joked, “I know you’ve been working for a long time.”

Biden strengthened the Quad under his leadership as a check on China’s growing power.

Now, nearly a year later, Biden is dealing with the fallout from canceling his planned trip to Australia due to the looming debt crisis.

Albanians had booked Sydney’s iconic opera house to host the Quad Summit and had hoped that Modi and Kishida would still make the journey down after Biden pulled out.

But hours later, the Australian leader called the whole thing off.

Instead, the four Quad leaders will meet on the sidelines of the G7 on Saturday night.

The Biden administration said it will also plan a state visit for Albanians, an event expected later this year.

Earlier this month, the White House announced that Modi would host the government’s third state dinner, following France and South Korea.

Australia was one of only two countries to be honored with state dinners during former President Donald Trump’s term in office.