Peter Dutton has escalated pressure on Kevin Rudd, saying Anthony Albanese made a "captain's pick" that has put the government "in a difficult position" after one of Donald Trump's closest advisers suggested the Australian ambassador to the United States' time was running out.

Falling short of calling for Mr Rudd's recall, the opposition leader appeared to shift from previous qualified support for the ambassador to openly speculating about the consequences of his sacking.

"The difficulty the PM is in at the moment is if he sacks Kevin Rudd, then what does he do with Penny Wong," Mr Dutton said on Thursday.

"And if he sacks Penny Wong, what does he do given he's made his own disparaging comments about president-elect Trump as well?"

Speculation about Mr Rudd's ability to work with the incoming Trump administration flared this week after close aide Dan Scavino — who the president-elect named as his deputy chief of staff this week — reposted Rudd's congratulatory message to Mr Trump alongside a GIF of an hourglass with time running out.

While the government has ruled out recalling Mr Rudd, the opposition leader's comments reflect a shift away from Mr Dutton's previous expressions of support for the ambassador.

Last week, the opposition leader described Mr Rudd as "indefatigable" and said he "will do everything he can to ingratiate himself with the Trump campaign".

On Thursday, Mr Dutton said Mr Albanese's appointment of Mr Rudd to Australia's top diplomatic posting in Washington DC in early 2023 was an issue "all of his own making".

The remarks came less than a day after opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the Coalition still hoped Trump would extend "forgiveness" to Mr Rudd so he could continue performing effectively in the role.

In the hours after Trump's election victory became clear last week, Mr Rudd deleted a series of old tweets sharply criticising the former president.

Prior to his appointment as ambassador, Mr Rudd described Trump as a "traitor to the West" and the "most destructive president in history".

The growing row over Mr Rudd's ability to work with one of the future Trump administration's top gatekeepers has reignited memories of a similar diplomatic stoush that saw Britain's ambassador to the US abruptly removed.

Ambassador Kim Darroch resigned from his post in mid-2019 after Trump took to Twitter to call him "wacky" and a "pompous fool".

The president's criticism and reports of a freeze between the White House and the UK's top envoy followed the publication of leaked documents in which Mr Darroch slammed the Trump administration's diplomacy as unpredictable, clumsy and inept.

"The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like," Mr Darroch wrote in his resignation letter.

Mr Dutton said on Thursday that he wanted to ensure Australia had a "functioning stable relationship with our most important partner".

"I want to make sure we can have an ambassador who can work effectively with the government, whether that is [in] the US or wherever an ambassador might be appointed.

"The prime minister's made a number of captain's calls and they have been at odds with the advice he received from his closest advisers and colleagues.

"And I suppose that's a question about the prime minister's judgement."

In a separate interview with 2GB, Mr Dutton added that Mr Rudd's decision to delete earlier social media posts critical of Trump after his victory didn't "show great sincerity".

"If Kamala Harris had been elected, then I presume the comments would still be up online," he said.

Prospects of Mr Rudd's ouster could further embolden internal Labor critics of the AUKUS submarine deal.

"If Australia cannot determine who our ambassador to the USA is, then any pretence that we have a modicum of sovereign independence from the Trump administration and within AUKUS is shattered," former Labor senator Doug Cameron wrote on X.