“We were just making sure Ukraine was the focus.”
Asked what he had thought of Biden’s performance in the press conference in the debate, including referring to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as President Putin at one point, Luxon said “obviously that’s not ideal”.
“But I was more interested in what’s the level of unity [around Ukraine], what’s the commitment.”
Luxon had also met with a range of both Democrats and Republicans – including Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Jon Ossoff.
“When you’re meeting with people on both sides of the aisle, there’s lots of different perspectives on the American political system at any point in time is the reality of it. But our focus was making sure we could drive the New Zealand bilateral relationship with the US.”
Newsom and Luxon’s baseball diplomacy
Newsom had selected the Oracle Park baseball stadium as the venue for his meeting with Luxon, home of the Giants – and Luxon got the chance to have a go at batting.
It clearly impressed Newsom, who could be heard cheering him on in a social media video posted by Luxon.
At the start of their meeting, he claimed Luxon had hit every ball.
“May I speak candidly? That was pretty impressive. I’ve seen a lot of folks with ties step up to that plate. No one – no one – hit every single ball.”
Luxon told Newsom the baseball was a dream come true.
“To be able to hit a ball like that in the baseball stadium, which I’ve never done that before, is awesome.”
California is a heavyweight state: if it was a country, it would have the fifth-largest economy in the world.
The baseball efforts seemed to help form a bond between the two: later Luxon said they had “connected very well”.
“We have some common interests in things and we enjoyed each other’s company. It was a good connection.
“And really the opportunity was there to talk about the New Zealand-California bilateral relationship, but also as an Indo-Pacific player.”
Newsom had delivered equally flattering remarks during his 2022 meeting with former PM Dame Jacinda Ardern, after which they had signed a climate change agreement to co-operate on technology sharing, including over EVs and agriculture.
Newsom referred to that agreement when welcoming Luxon and said he was grateful it was being continued and expanded.
“I’m grateful we are continuing that stewardship and that relationship with a formal extension of the [agreement] and the work we continue to do to address the issue of our time.”
He said Luxon had also shared the story of his decision to ban cellphones in schools, something Newsom seemed to like.
Newsom is currently looking at a cellphone ban in California schools after passing legislation to restrict the use of cellphones in schools in 2019.
Newsom was the last of the politicians Luxon met on his US trip, during which he also met with key Republicans Cruz, Bill Hagerty and Jason Smith on Capitol Hill.
Luxon’s verdict on his trip
Luxon has made it clear that New Zealand’s international relations are a priority for him and has previously said he believed it needed to be seen as more relevant. “I think we are respected and we are able to make a contribution. I want to make sure New Zealand is at those big tables and we are putting our point of view forward and we are contributing.”
He said the Nato summit had driven home to him that what happened in the Euro-Atlantic region affected the Indo-Pacific region. He said the sense of solidarity over Russia’s action had pleased him.
“But also the flashpoints we have in our region in the Indo-Pacific, we could have a Ukraine in East Asia, for example, given some of the tensions we’ve got. So again it’s about never taking democracy for granted.”
He had met most of the 36 other leaders at the conference, saying he had a good chat with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in an informal setting. That conversation had mainly been around the changes in entering government and the impact on families.
He also sang the praises of Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, after sitting next to her at the Summit dinner. “She had a great sense of humour and we had a good fun conversation.”
He said it had also been good to catch up again with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who he got on well with.
Luxon’s final appointment was to the Nasa Ames Research Centre in Silicon Valley near San Francisco. He met some New Zealand interns at the Centre and was shown some of the projects – including the vast supercomputer, which he said he was impressed with.
He will now have a week’s holiday, but did not say where, other than it was somewhere in the Pacific.: “I’m not going to Te Puke.”
He had started his day with a visit to the Black Foils – meeting Peter Burling and Blair Tuke – as well as SailGP chief executive Sir Russell Coutts. The SailGP Grand Final is on Monday.
Claire Trevett is the NZ Herald’s political editor, based at Parliament. She travelled to Washington DC and San Francisco to cover Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s trip to the Nato Summit.
