“He called me and we congratulated him on his election victory. We talked a little ... he’s got a lot of attachment to New Zealand, it’s a place he speaks very highly of.
“He was aware of our new government and myself ... he spoke very warmly about New Zealand. We both talked about the long relationship the two countries have together as two important democracies.”
The conversation touched on the economic challenges in their respective countries and global conflicts, especially Ukraine and in the Middle East.
“It was really just a relational chance to say hello. We committed we would catch up in person at some future forum.”
He said they did not talk in detail about issues such as Trump’s proposal to boost tariffs on trade, but the Republican leader was aware of New Zealand’s position.
“He knows New Zealand well, and the fact we are a small nation that is very determined to continue to trade with anyone and everyone across the world.
“We talked about continuing the work that we have with the US in partnership with the Pacific Islands and in the Indo-Pacific region. And we also touched briefly on some of the global conflicts.”
Luxon said it was not a detailed conversation and did not get into Trump’s policies for the war in Ukraine: “[It was] just about the challenges around the Middle East and Ukraine, and acknowledging they’re pretty tough conflicts and there are no obvious or easy answers to those.”
There were no firm plans for when the two might meet in person and unless there is an invitation to the White House such meetings usually happen on the sidelines of international summits such as the UN General Assembly or Apec.
Luxon will head to Peru for Apec tomorrow, which US President Joe Biden is attending for the US.
While Luxon was not top of the list of leaders to get phone calls from Trump, he said it was good to receive a one-on-one as a small nation.
New Zealand is also a partner of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing grouping that includes the US.
He said X-owner and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who has reportedly taken part in some of Trump’s phone calls, was not part of the today’s conversation. Musk congratulated Luxon on X after his election win last year and also tweeted praise of him in September.
