Ahead of the leaders' much-anticipated October meeting, the US president showed he was unafraid to throw verbal jabs in highly publicised meetings with his Ukrainian and South African counterparts.
Should things sour in his own meeting, Anthony Albanese was armed with advice from a former prime minister famed for his own incisive tongue.
"I did give our prime minister a heap of fighting points in the event that Trump turned nasty on him," Australia's 24th prime minister Paul Keating told an audience at the State Library of NSW on Monday night.
"Turned out he didn't have to use them."
"The meeting went really well, but I think the prime minister was up for throwing a punch back if he received one."
Though there was a moment of awkwardness over former ambassador Kevin Rudd's past criticisms of the US leader, Mr Trump ultimately hailed Mr Albanese as a "friend".
But Mr Keating warned the situation could have turned quickly.
"Donald Trump is a power guy," Mr Keating said.
"He can pick a fraud.
"So if you showed the slightest sign of weakness, you're buggered with him."
Mr Albanese's trip ended with a major multibillion-dollar critical minerals deal with the US.
The pact was designed to provide a security of supply for critical minerals as China withholds exports and the technology needed for processing.
But Mr Keating said China has already triumphed in its power struggle with the US.
"It's all over, the Chinese have won hands down," he said.
"What China is today in terms of modernity, capacity and utilisation of services is like nothing in human history."
Mr Albanese has invited the US president to visit Australia, but it is still unclear if Mr Trump will make the journey down under.
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