In 2011, Donald Trump praised then-treasurer Wayne Swan for being a "financial genius", called Australia "so much more advanced" than the US and suggested the government should rip off China through mining deals.
The video from the 2011 "National Achievers Congress" in Sydney shows the future US President noting that Swan, who had helped to guide Australia through the global financial crisis, had recently been named the "world's best finance minister" by Euromoney magazine.
I hear good things about the way Australia is being run and running. You just had your financial genius just got a nice award, he was voted the best in the world at this time. Now I don’t know who gives him that award, maybe he does, I don’t know. I do that, I give myself awards all the time and then I announce, ‘I’ve just received an award’. There’s nothing deceptive about it, because I actually did, but I gave it to myself
Swan, who now sits as a Labor backbencher in the parliament, has been vocal in the wake of Trump's win, calling him a "threat to democracy".
#Brexit & #Trump aren't just warnings for political parties, they represent a real threat to democracy #auspol https://t.co/TjfYnM3F5t
Trump was introduced by former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins and walked in to the '90s dance song "Unbelievable" by British band EMF.
That’s one of the reasons we love Australia, because you’re selling them all sorts of shit. That crap is coming out of the ground and you don’t know what it is, and they don’t what it is. I say raise your prices! Raise your prices! Tell your guys, raise your prices! What you do is really screw them on the sale of the raw materials, trust me, you’ll be richer than China because they need you badly, you have all the cards.
Last week, the world's biggest mining company, Australia-based BHP Biliton, warned of "global trauma" if Trump followed through on his threats of a blanket 45% tariff on China.
"The whole world will start to be in complete trauma if tariff levels of that size and magnitude are put on across the board," said BHP chairman Jac Nasser.