Trump’s new ambassador brings his evangelical faith, free-market creed and unwavering support for AUKUS to Canberra, writes Dr Mark Beeson.
EXCITING NEWS: our imperial overlords have remembered to send us an ambassador.
To be fair, it’s only a couple of years since the last one departed and it’s the sort of thing a hegemon-in-decline might easily overlook given all that’s happening in the world. But we finally have someone to reassure us that President Trump hasn’t forgotten who we are.
Even better, as a measure of the high esteem in which we’re held by the Trump Administration, the President hasn’t picked a former used car salesman as his representative either, as Ronald Reagan did in 1981. On the contrary, he’s chosen David – Dave to his friends – Brat, a former Congressman who was elected with the support of the Tea Party, which was famously associated with fiscal conservatism and evangelical Christianity.
I’m not sure if Dave’s still advocating balanced budgets given his leader’s enthusiasm for spending (and acquiring) other people’s money, but apparently Dave’s still keen on injecting his understanding of Christian values into the national political discourse.
He’ll be aligned with his leader in that department, at least. Not only is God apparently “proud” of Donald Trump, but the President is increasingly surrounded – and influenced by – a coterie of evangelical Christians, some of whom have very original takes on the divine message. For example, Pete Hesgeth, the self-styled Secretary of War, is plainly on a testosterone-fuelled crusade to destroy infidels who deserve no mercy. He’s got the tatts to prove it, too.
Vice President JD Vance follows a slightly less unhinged version of the Christian message, but he’s not above telling the head of his newly-found faith to butt out of theological affairs that aren’t any of his business. Some might suggest it’s a shame he doesn’t take the same independent attitude to his own boss, whom he once famously described as “America’s Hitler”.
To be fair to the Pope, theological discussion is part of his job description, and it would be a bit odd if he didn’t offer an opinion on the subject now and again. However, the Pope’s rather optimistically titled Magnifica Humanitas did address some very sensitive secular issues as far as the techno-cronies and the grifters who surround Trump are concerned: the need to regulate AI, tell the truth and put humanity rather than profit first.
Luckily, none of this is likely to cause our new ambassador many philosophical problems. On the contrary, Dave is perhaps best known for his novel proposition that Christianity and capitalism should merge, with the market driving economic development and the Bible providing an ethical framework.
Even German sociologist Max Weber gets a callout in Dave’s reading of the Good Book, which may help to explain his argument that the poor should “work hard and stay out of debt in the first place”. I’m not sure God’s son would be in full agreement with that position, but I’m no theologian.
Perhaps character and personal beliefs don’t matter as long as America’s representative stays on message.
In news that will thrill Defence Minister Richard Marles, Dave is fully behind AUKUS, recognises the importance of providing critical minerals to the U.S. and has actually even met some Australians:
“I love the Australian people I have met in life and I appreciate their decency, their wit, their sense of humour.”
Perhaps he’s seen Crocodile Dundee.
At the risk of undermining comforting national stereotypes and striking a slightly more serious note, the willingness of a former fervent free trader to ditch his core beliefs to fit in with the views of his boss does rather suggest a fundamental lack of seriousness and principle. The imposition of Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on Australia is a reminder of America’s unreliability that Dave is unlikely to change.
More predictably and in line with Trump’s overwhelmingly regressive policy agenda, Dave is in favour of “defunding Climategate”. This may explain his unlikely alliance with Gina Rinehart, who suggested that “we should not be too biased or arrogant (or stupid), that we don't try to learn from our very important ally”. The lesson in question being to double down on fossil fuel exploitation and the cozy nexus between big business and politics that benefits from it, no doubt.
At a time when the future of civilisation is widely thought to be in question as a result of climate change, not to mention pointless wars in Europe and the Middle East, it really is important to know quite who we’re dealing with and the beliefs that shape policy in the U.S.
Dave may only be a bit player, but he’s Australia’s conduit to the U.S. and his views about us are likely to have more influence on American decision-making than any number of Ausmin meetings or bilateral love-ins. We can only pray he likes us.
Dr Mark Beeson is an adjunct professor at the University of Technology Sydney and Griffith University. He was previously Professor of International Politics at the University of Western Australia.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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