Prime minister gets caught in White House lockdown after a woman crashes her car into a security barrier

The Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, says he is looking forward to working with the new leader of the National party after the resignation of Barnaby Joyce.

Speaking to reporters in Washington DC on Friday (early Saturday AEDT) just hours before meeting the US president, Donald Trump, at the White House, Turnbull thanked Joyce for his service as deputy prime minister.

“This is really a very personal matter for Barnaby. He has to deal, as he said, with some personal issues, he’s got to deal with a complaint that’s been made about him and as he said he believes he cannot do that from the despatch box,” Turnbull said outside Blair House in Washington DC.

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Joyce announced on Friday he would resign as Australia’s deputy prime minister and leader of the Nationals following intense media scrutiny over his relationship with a former staffer, with whom he is expecting a baby in April.

“I look forward now obviously to working with the new leader of the National party who will be elected on Monday,” Turnbull said.

“Barnaby made his own decision to take leave to reflect on the circumstances and deal with personal matters.

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“I think he’s taken the right decision and the judgment he’s made in resigning is the right one for himself and his family and, as I said, we thank him for his service and look forward to working with his successor.

“I want to thank him for his service as a minister, as deputy prime minister, over our years in government.

“The issues that have been subject of public discussion over the last two weeks have not been issues between the Nationals and Liberals — we have a 95-year-old political alliance, the longest in Australian history and it is absolutely enduring and I look forward now, obviously, to working with the new leader of the National party who will be elected on Monday.”

Later, after greeting Turnbull at the White House, Trump said America’s relationship with Australia was “stronger than ever before”.

Trump and his wife, Melania, met Turnbull and his wife, Lucy, on the south lawn of the White House on Friday.

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They then moved to the Oval Office and the White House media pool noted 15 seconds of silence with no interaction between the Turnbulls or Trumps as reporters watched on.

“The relationship we have with Australia is a terrific relationship and probably stronger now than ever before, maybe because of our relationship, our friendship,” Trump remarked after the awkward silence.

“We’re working on trade deals, we’re working on military and protection and all of the things that you would think we would be discussing today. A lot of good things will come out of this visit.”

The leaders are expected to discuss tough new sanctions Trump announced against North Korea, trade, security in the Indo-Pacific and infrastructure investment before holding a joint press conference with the White House press corps and Australian journalists.

Trump also said he hoped to follow Australia with its tough “merit-based” immigration policies and announced the US would name a new combat ship the USS Canberra.

“We will hopefully follow in your footsteps,” Trump, talking about immigration policies, said.

Shortly after the media briefing, the prime minister and his wife got caught in a White House lockdown after a woman crashed her car into a security barrier outside.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest US Secret Service Uniform Division police look at a vehicle that reportedly ploughed into a barricade on the edge of the the White House complex. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Australian and US reporters in the White House press briefing room were taken to a basement while Secret Service and other authorities investigated the incident.

“No shots were fired during the vehicle incident near the White House,” the Secret Service announced on Twitter.

A spokesman for Turnbull said the Australian federal police said the crash had “no impact on the prime minister”.

The crash was also just several hundred metres away from Blair House, the president’s guest house near the White House where Turnbull and his wife are staying.

“An individual driving a passenger vehicle struck a security barrier near the White House,” the Secret Service announced on Twitter.

“The vehicle did not breach the security barrier of the White House complex.

“The female driver of the vehicle was immediately apprehended by Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers.”

Previous encounters with the 35-year-old woman from La Vergne, Tennessee, near the White House had resulted “in numerous arrests for a variety of criminal violations,” the US Secret Service said, without giving her name.



“The female was again charged today with numerous criminal violations and transported to the Metropolitan Police Department,” the statement said, adding that normal operations had resumed at the White House complex.

“This minivan came and crashed into the barricade and tried to push through the barricade and his tires were burning rubber and a lot of smoke was coming up,” eyewitness Chris Bello, 50, of New York, told reporters near the scene.





- with AAP and Reuters