“To be really blunt about it, we won’t see anything like the revenue upgrades that we saw in the first two budgets in our third budget,” he said, noting that a drop in the price of iron ore had already wiped $9 billion from the budget this year.

“That is part of the reason why we need a slightly different fiscal strategy – to try and do more with less, but also to try and recognise that in a global economy which is slowing, with a Chinese economy which has been sluggish, that has big implications for us.”

The treasurer attended 19 meetings during his whirlwind trip to Washington, including with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Ukraine Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko, and US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

He is yet to meet any members of Trump’s team, but asked how he might be preparing for a potential change of administration, Chalmers replied: “We play the cards that we’re dealt in Australia. The Americans choose their own presidents and leaders, and that’s obviously appropriate.

“But we are confident that in either scenario, we’ll continue to be well-represented and we’ll continue to have our interest recognised here in the US because we’re such close friends.”

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Concerns about the future of Australia’s relationship with its most important security partner emerged last month after Trump hit out at former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, now the nation’s ambassador to the US, describing him as “nasty” and “not the brightest bulb”.

During an interview with former Brexiteer Nigel Farage on Britain’s right-leaning GB News, Trump also suggested Rudd may not be welcome under a second Trump presidency, after Farage relayed questions from Sky News Australia concerning comments Rudd had previously made describing Trump as “nuts”, a “traitor to the West” and “the most destructive president in history”.

Rudd was the head of the Asia Society at the time and says he was speaking in his capacity as a member of an independent think tank.