Kevin Rudd has purged his social media accounts of posts disparaging Donald Trump, after the former US president’s re-election raised the prospect the Australian ambassador’s past comments could compromise his relationship with the incoming administration.

Australia’s Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd has revealed that he deleted a number of social media posts in which he had been critical of Donald Trump, aiming for a clean slate in ties with the now president-elect.

Canberra’s ambassador to the US was “looking forward” to working with Donald Trump despite calling him “destructive” and a “traitor”, while the Australian Prime Minister spoke for the first time with the President-elect who “scares the sh--t out” of him.