There was an early belief that Donald Trump's surprise return to the White House would foreshadow a path to a coalition election victory in Australia based on a surge in support for right-wing politics.
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But fast forward several months and local reaction to Mr Trump's divisive policies has upended those predictions ahead of the May 3 poll.
As the US president slapped 10 per cent tariffs on all Australian exports, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have flexed their campaign muscle on how they would deal with an unpredictable American leader.
While some within the coalition initially welcomed the Republicans' victory in the presidential election, Associate Professor at United States Studies Centre David Smith says the opposition is now trying to avoid any association with Mr Trump.
"There has been a deterioration in Australians' views of Donald Trump since he became president and since he took on the role. The coalition in particular have been trying to distance from him in the election campaign," Dr Smith has told AAP.
"There were some figures who believed the coalition could benefit from emulating Trump in some ways ... but since he's become president, he's turned off a lot of Australians both in style and substance and the coalition now appears to go in the opposite direction."
With Mr Dutton promising to take a razor to public servant numbers and funding for federal eduction departments, attempts have been made to compare Mr Trump's slash-and-burn regime.
But it's unlikely those comparisons would be made directly by the prime minister, Dr Smith says, due to the risk of fracturing the US alliance.
"They're not going to say that explicitly and they will have to keep the relationship in mind and not want to antagonise Trump," he says.
"But certainly, Labor would like it if that association between Dutton and Trump in the public's mind was strong."
Despite the efforts of the major parties, some comparisons with politics in the US are unavoidable.
"When Australians think of American politics, they think of Labor as the Democrats and the coalition as the Republicans, that association is always going to be there," Dr Smith says.
According to Australian National University international law expert Donald Rothwell, Mr Albanese has largely tried to avoid providing a running commentary on Mr Trump's movements but the tariff situation has made it unavoidable on the campaign trail.
"The announcement out of Washington can't be ignored and brushed aside because it's now become a political point of contention," he says.
"The tariffs will immediately create a contest between the government and the coalition as to who will respond the toughest and which response will be the most effective."
Despite obvious differences between Australian and US voting systems, November's presidential election has been an eye opener on how voting might unfold on May 3.
Among the factors behind Mr Trump's return to Washington involved tapping into the concerns of young men.
Vice-chancellor's fellow at La Trobe University Dennis Altman says some US trends are likely to flow through to Australia's election.
"There are a number of younger men who are very disaffected and disconnected from mainstream politics, and their votes are totally up for grabs and we don't necessarily know where they will go," he says.
"People this election are less and less glued on to the major parties and ... some people will be attracted by some Trump-like rhetoric."
Major parties may have tried to avoid being likened to Donald Trump but some minor parties have actively embraced his policies in the hope of more than a semblance of fresh support among Australian voters.
Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has set up Trumpet of Patriots to run in the 2025 election, adopted a Trump policy stance and echoed his campaign slogans.
Prof Altman says the party has no doubt been formed to build on Mr Trump's platform but is unlikely to gain much due to compulsory and preferential voting.
Mr Trump's 10 per cent tariffs on all exports as part of his so-called Liberation Day platform has already sucked some of the oxygen from domestic election issues but may well still be a turning point of the campaign.
There has been a level of bipartisanship from Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton in condemning the taxes, with the prime minister claiming the decision has "no basis in logic" and Mr Dutton declaring it a bad day for the nation.
Where they have differed, however, has been on the approach to dealing with Mr Trump, with the opposition arguing it will be able to offer a better negotiating position with America for an exemption.
The prime minister says every avenue is being examined to negotiate, while also arguing Mr Dutton is failing to stand up for the national interest.
While the US president has thrown a spanner in the works for the election, Prof Altman says Australian politics is the furthest thing from Mr Trump's mind.
"We might see (the tariffs) as election interference but it's not on Trump's radar. We always tend to overestimate how important we are in the eyes of the US," he says.
"I don't think when Trump's people were sitting around making decisions for Liberation Day they would realise there was an election in Australia or even care."
Australian Associated Press
