(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd would wear criticism of him by former President Donald Trump as a “badge of honor,” ex-Australian diplomat Geoff Raby told Bloomberg Television on Friday.

Trump said this week that while he didn’t know a lot about Rudd, also a former prime minister, he had “heard he was a little bit nasty” and “not the brightest bulb.” The presumptive Republican nominee also warned that if Rudd was “at all hostile” to him then he wouldn’t be Australia’s envoy in Washington for long.

Raby, Australia’s ambassador to China during Rudd’s first term in office from 2007-2010, said in an interview on Daybreak Asia that the former prime minister wouldn’t be at all concerned by Trump’s remarks.

“Trump’s just the nominee,” he said. “Let’s see how all that goes. But I’ve known Kevin over the years, I think the current statements by the presumptive Republican nominee Kevin would probably wear as a badge of honor.”

Read more: Trump Warns Australian Envoy Rudd Will Go If He’s ‘Hostile’

Prior to taking up his role as ambassador, Rudd made a number of highly critical remarks about Trump while commenting on US politics. He called the former president a “traitor to the West” in a social media post in February 2022 and two years before that, while Trump was still in the White House, Rudd described him as the “most destructive president in history.”

The Australian government has defended Rudd’s position as ambassador following the former president’s comments. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Rudd would remain in the post in the event of a second Trump administration. 

“His experience and skills mean he will be able to work closely with whomever is elected by the American people,” she said.

--With assistance from Haidi Lun and Annabelle Droulers.

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