Contrary to the pessimistic expectations of those who feared Scott Morrison would be so overawed by being in the presence of Donald Trump he would agree to anything, the Prime Minister has done well in the US.
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He refused to be drawn into Mr Trump's tirades against China while still making it clear this country expects our largest trading partner to abide by the same laws protecting intellectual property rights and the freedom of navigation as the rest of the world.
He also stressed this country had no plans to escalate its commitment to the freedom of navigation operation in the Straits of Hormuz and would not be upping the ante in assisting the US to impose additional sanctions on Iran.
And, perhaps most remarkably, the PM may have been able to get the Americans to extend their commitment to exempt Australia's steel industry from the increased tariffs the rest of the world is paying.
![Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President of the United States Donald Trump. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President of the United States Donald Trump. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc77862rdo045pcjwle03.jpg/r0_72_2691_1591_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Morrison was able to keep things nice despite what appeared to be repeated attempts by his larger-than-life host to put him, and Australia, on the spot.
This was most apparent during the impromptu media conference in the White House Rose Garden during which Mr Trump said China was a "threat to the world" and warned the trade war could drag on until next year's presidential election.
Mr Morrison responded by noting that "Australia's economic relationship with China is very different from the United States's economic relationship with China. We have a surplus with China; they have a deficit... they have a very different economic experience".
This is a significant point and one that often tends to be overlooked.
All of that said, it is obvious a strong personal rapport appears to have developed between Mr Trump and Mr Morrison in a remarkably short space of time. The sumptuous state dinner, the effusive praise and the reference to the Messiah from the Shire as "a man of Titanium" all go well beyond the usual US "duchessing" of a visiting head of state.
While it is difficult to tell from the public utterances and the body language if the PM feels as warmly about Mr Trump as POTUS appears to feel about him, he's obviously ready, willing and able, to seize the feeling of the moment.
It's very clear Mr Morrison has made a much better impression on the President than Malcolm Turnbull ever managed to do.
That could be due, at least in part, to the PM's refusal to fawn over his host in the same way as Julia Gillard infamously did when she had her first encounter with Barack Obama nine years ago, telling the then president it was "a great honour and a privilege" just to speak to him.
The most fascinating point about the visit is the way in which America is reaching out to Australia at a time when top level relations between this country and China have rarely been cooler.
It is now more than three years since an Australian prime minister last visited Beijing and there is no sign, thanks to Australian concerns over foreign political interference and the decision to exclude Huawei from the 5G roll-out, that an invitation is in the mail.
If America continues to pull and China continues to push Australia away then it stands to reason this country will drift even more closely into America's orbit.
This actually helps nobody and robs Australia of its ability, as a friend to the US and an economic partner with China, to act as a mediator between the two superpowers.
Beijing would have nothing to lose by an extending an olive branch in Australia's direction right now.