When asked if he would endorse Trump in 2020, the Australian prime minister said the two share ‘a lot of the same views’

Scott Morrison has praised Donald Trump’s political priorities in response to a question about whether he would endorse the president to win the US election in 2020.

Given his many expressions of alignment with the Trump administration since his American visit began last Friday, Morrison was asked on Monday during a press conference in Chicago whether he was prepared to endorse the president’s bid for re-election.

Trump is already in full campaign mode as the Democrats continue to deliberate over who their presidential candidate will be.

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The Australian prime minister attended a Trump rally in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on Sunday, which adjoined the opening of a new paper plant in the town owned by the Australian box billionaire, Anthony Pratt. As part of the formalities, the two leaders shared a stage, and traded compliments, in front of an audience of ebullient Trump supporters.

With regard to a Trump endorsement, Morrison said it was not the job of visiting foreign leaders to “involve themselves in domestic politics, but as you can see we do share a lot of the same views”.

In what sounded like an endorsement without an endorsement, Morrison said: “We believe people should keep more of what they earn, we do think the best form of welfare is a job, we do think you can stimulate and ensure your small business entrepreneurs like we were seeing this morning, it was great to see so many there as part of that lab, out there and creating jobs, then that’s the way you can pay for hospitals, pay for schools, ensure that the aspirations and the standard of living that your people look forward to – that’s how it’s achieved.”

Morrison dropped by a hub for tech entrepreneurs in Chicago after delivering a major foreign policy speech early on Monday at the city’s institute for foreign relations.

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The Australian prime minister noted Trump enjoyed “tremendous support” for his program as president “and we saw that on display as we made our way to the Pratt plant”.

Residents of the small town lined the streets in anticipation of a glimpse of Trump on his way the event, and gathered again to farewell his motorcade. Trump told the Wapakoneta crowd they were no longer “forgotten people” and his objective for the new term was to “keep America great”.