Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has come out in full support of U.S. President Donald Trump and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling Mr. Trump an “American patriot” who is loyally serving his country to the utmost 0f his ability.

Mr. Turnbull was speaking on the Miranda Devine Live program on the Sydney Daily Telegraph website after being asked if President Trump was a “traitor” for holding a joint press conference with Mr. Putin in Helsinki. Mr. Turnbull said:

Of course not. Donald Trump is a patriot. He’s an American patriot and his job is representing his country and he’s doing that to the best of his ability just like I represent my country Australia to the best of my ability. I think he’s doing exactly what he said he’s seeking to do, he believes it’s better to talk to people and to engage with them and again this obviously has been highly controversial in America and I don’t run a commentary on Australian politics let alone American Politics.

This is the second time this year Mr. Turnbull has backed Mr. Trump on the world stage.

In January, the Australian leader said Mr. Trump’s sweeping tax cuts combined with reforms in corporate regulation benefit the global economy.

Mr. Turnbull pointed to the International Monetary Fund’s strong predictions of global economic growth in the wake of the Trump tax cuts as testament to his economic drive.

Speaking during a radio interview, Mr. Turnbull happily declared: “Donald Trump is delivering on economic leadership, that’s for sure” before outlining his own close personal relationship with the president.

“You’ve only got to look at the IMF to see they regard the American tax cuts as being very pro-growth,” he said. “And, of course, because the U.S. is such a big part of the global economy, that has lifted global growth forecasts as well.

“You get plenty of criticism in public life, I think you’ve got to expect it, I’m sure he expected it,” he said.