Professor Weeks, from Wagga Wagga in NSW, was freed from custody in Afghanistan last week through a prisoner-swap deal.

"It was a great opportunity to say thank you to the president for the amazing work done to get Tim Weeks out and to get him on his way home," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

"We appreciate the tremendous work they have done."

The prime minister has not yet spoken to Professor Weeks, who spent three years in Taliban captivity.

"I haven't spoken to Tim as yet but I have spoken to his family and they were very grateful - very, very grateful," he said.

The prime minister also thanked President Trump for sending US firefighters to help battle recent blazes in Queensland and NSW.

During the telephone call on Monday morning, Mr Morrison welcomed initial progress towards the US and China settling their long-running trade war.

He said the US-China deal would give great confidence to the global economy, according to an official read-out of the conversation.

Australian Associated Press