Report suggests that Trump abrubtly ended a call with Australia PM Malcolm Turnbull. The Australian PM, however, calls it a 'frank discussion'
It certainly wasn’t a g’day for US President Donald Trump, as a report by The Washington Post suggests that he abruptly ended a phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
According to the report, President Trump blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refugee agreement and boasted about the magnitude of his Electoral College win, according to senior US officials briefed on the Saturday exchange. Then, 25 minutes into what was expected to be an hour-long call, Trump abruptly ended it.
The Washington Post reported that Trump had described the call with the leader of Australia, one of the United States' staunchest allies, as "the worst so far".
Prime Minister Turnbull, however, told reporters the call on Saturday had been frank and candid but refused to provide further details on a "private" conversation that has hit headlines on both sides of the world.
It came less than a day after Washington had sown confusion in Australia after saying it would apply "extreme vetting" as part of the refugee resettlement deal.
The deal was agreed late last year between Australia, which has fought alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the administration of former President Barack Obama.
According to sources, the US President insisted that it was a very bad deal for Washington to take 2,000 refugees and that one of them was going to be the next Boston bomber.
As part of the deal, Washington agreed to resettle up to 1,250 asylum seekers held in offshore processing camps on Pacific islands in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. In return, Australia would resettle refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Trump's comments cast further doubt on the resettlement deal, which was already in question after Trump signed an executive order last week that suspended the U.S. refugee programme and restricted entry to the United States for travellers from majority-Muslim countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
Many of those being held in the Australian detention centres have fled violence in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.
Trump’s tweet, however, had some reactions and created a thread on Twitter
With inputs from Reuters
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