Donald Trump says Australia will get the Aukus submarines – but the decision won’t be his to make

If the US navy needs the subs, they cannot be sold to Australia, regardless of how much the president might wish it

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Even by the standards of the Trumpian promise, the unvarnished commitment to Australia on US nuclear submarines – “they’re getting them” – is entirely unreliable.

They are not the US president’s boats to give.