Australia must be prepared for Trump: Beazley

Former US ambassador Kim Beazley has warned Australia must be prepared to deal with the possibility of Donald Trump winning the US election and withdrawing military resources from Asia.

"We would have to cater for a smaller, more timid America - it would be a real challenge and it would be a very different region," Mr Beazley told the Financial Review.

Mr Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner, has flagged he wants to charge allies billions of dollars for defence assistance and cut back on US military resources in Asia.