The socialist President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, isn’t seeking one. He is savage critic of the Trump administration, which actively supports his predecessor and political enemy Jair Bolsonaro. Continuing tensions resulting from Trump’s closure of America’s southern border make the relationship with Mexico particularly difficult; even so, the two presidents have spoken often though not in person. It’s an open secret in Washington that the Australian Embassy cannot secure a White House meeting for Anthony Albanese, despite the persistent efforts of Kevin Rudd, and the entreaties of Rudd’s friend, the former ambassador (and occasional Trump golf partner) Joe Hockey. Hockey – by far the best-connected Australian in Washington – was ambassador when Trump first ran for the presidency in 2016. He made it his business to reach out to him when the near-universal expectation was of a Hillary Clinton presidency. Famously, Hockey contradicted the unanimous consensus of Australia’s professional diplomats, advising Canberra to expect a Trump victory. He went on to nurture an excellent relationship with the Trump White House and Trump personally. Yet so far, even Joe’s efforts to work his rich Rolodex of MAGA contacts have been unavailing. If Albanese does end up getting a meeting, it will have more to do with Hockey’s personal influence in Washington than the much-diminished diplomatic capital of the Australian government.