Squiz Today – Wednesday, 26 April

TURNBULL TO TAKE TRUMP TRIP

THE SQUIZ
PM Malcolm Turnbull will meet US President Donald Trump in New York next week. It's been a big week for the PM. He's met with Vice President Mike Pence, US Defense Secretary James Mattis, and the Presidents of Afghanistan and Iraq, and he's been on the road since Sunday visiting Australian troops in Afghanistan and Iraq in the lead-up to Anzac Day. He said our troops would probably be there for quite some time to come in the role of training local security forces. 

WOW! LITTLE OLE OZ MEETING THE US PRESIDENT SO SOON?
Just when we had finished celebrating in the streets (or was that just us?) over hosting the earliest Vice Presidential visit to Australia in history, our very own PM will meet the US President! In person! Can you stand it? The official reason for the PM’s trip is to mark the 75th anniversary of 1942’s Battle of the Coral Sea (a crucial WWII battle between the Japanese navy, and Australian and US navy and airforces) in New York on 4 May. We thought Trump might be too busy comforting first daughter Ivanka after she received a hostile reception at an event in Germany while defending her dad's record on supporting women. But the trip is on and Turnbull will be on root to NYC toot-sweet.

REMIND ME, WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR TURNBULL TO MEET TRUMP?
The trip is not at a great time with the federal budget being handed down on 9 May, but there are good reasons to get in front of Trump sooner rather than later:

1) To bed down our strategic alliance with the leader of the free world. All the right people (Pence, Mattis, Tillerson) have said all the right things. But clearly getting in front of Trump is an important thing to do, particularly with North Korea and Syria bubbling along and all.

2) To help our exporters. Since Trump walked out on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and put ‘America First’ on trade and jobs, Australia needs to engage directly with Trump to press the case, particularly for our agriculture sector.

3) To try to mitigate for future bumps in the road. Trump’s explosive reaction to the “dumb deal” on settling some refugees was a bit unsettling for all concerned. Forming a personal relationship with Trump couldn’t hurt. We wonder if Turnbull might book an extra seat on the plane for Jennifer Hawkins to make the introduction?

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SQUIZ THE REST

ANZAC DAY CROWDS DOWN
That’s not to say Anzac Day services weren’t well attended – they were. It was always going to be difficult to maintain high crowd levels following the centenary in 2015. Ten thousand turned out for the dawn service in Gallipoli, down in numbers due to the terror attack warning issued by the government a few weeks ago. Some drama though - a man was arrested after disrupting Sydney’s dawn service; the ‘welcome to country' performed at Adelaide's service was too political for some; and ABC presenter Yassmin Abdel-Magied deleted a Facebook post deemed offensive.

NORTH KOREA UPDATE
There are three things to know:

1)North Korea staged big demonstrations of military might yesterday (again) in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of their army. Another missile test was expected, but instead the North Koreans deployed long-range artillery units along their east coast for a drill.

2) The US have docked a yuuuge nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Michigan, in South Korea. All concerned say it's part of ongoing military exercises in that part of the world. Mmm hmm…

3) Trump invited the Senate to the White House for a briefing on the situation in North Korea. There's a lot of whining from senators though, including concerns they will be used as props for a photo-op as Trump marches towards 100 days in office on Saturday.

QUICK POLITICS NEWS WRAP
French presidential aspirant Marine Le Pen stepped aside temporarily as leader of her far-right party, Front National. Why? She said it’s to be “above partisan considerations” as she runs off against centrist Emmanuel Macron for president. No, really, why? Many say it’s to get a bit of distance from her divisive party. Meaningful gesture or political trickery? Voters will tell us when they return to the polls on 6 May.

And at home, Family First is expected to fold under the Australian Conservatives, the new party recently created by former Liberal senator, Cory Bernardi. Reports say new Family First senator Lucy Gichuhi will not follow the move and will become an independent senator.

JIMMY CHOO ON SALE
Sorry, put your credit cards away! JAB Luxury, which owns 67% of Jimmy Choo’s shares, and has put its stake up for sale. JAB owns major shares in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and several big coffee brands – they say they want to focus on their food and beverage businesses. Jimmy Choo has an interesting corporate history. Co-founder and former Vogue journo Tamara Mellon led a buy-out in 2001 before JAB invested and listed the business in 2014. Mellon now has her own brand that mainly retails online (and yes, the shoes are drool-worthy). This comes on top of news luxury goods behemoth LVMH (created from the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy), led by billionaire Bernard Arnault, is looking to acquire Christian Dior Couture. LVMH already owns the Dior cosmetics business. 

PROFANITY AND BEEFCAKE ALERT
Film star Tom Hardy (Black Hawk Down, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road) nabbed a moped thief after a Hollywood-style chase through London streets. Our favourite quote from a female spectator: “He looked as mad as he does on telly.” 

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Release - Consumer Price Index, March

National Press Club Address - Professor Michael Wesley, Dr Jane Golley & Professor Warwick McKibbin on US President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office

US First Lady Melania Trump's 47th birthday

Hug a Friend Day - a very unofficial US observance so don't feel pressured...