President Donald Trump's call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last Saturday went sour over a previous refugee agreement, and was ended by Trump after just 25 minutes, according to a report in The Washington Post.
"This is the worst deal ever," Trump reportedly said, in response to Turnbull's request for the U.S. to honor a pledge to take in 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention center.
The call came from the Oval Office around 5 p.m. Saturday, with chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, national security adviser Michael Flynn, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer also present, per the report. It came one day after President Trump's hard-line executive orders on immigration.
"These conversations are conducted candidly, frankly, privately," Turnbull told a Thursday news conference in Australia, per the Post. "If you see reports of them, I’m not going to add to them."
Trump reportedly told Turnbull, "this was the worst call by far," after saying he spoke with four other world leaders that Saturday – Russian President Vladimir Putin, Shinzo Abe of Japan, Angela Merkel of Germany, and François Hollande of France.
Speaking with Turnbull, Trump did not want to be held to a deal signed by the Obama administration, although he added it was "my intention" to honor it, according to the Post.
"I don't want these people," Trump reportedly said, complaining he was "going to get killed" for sticking to this agreement after last Friday's executive orders on immigration.
He tweeted late Wednesday night:
He reportedly also accused Australia of attempting dump the "next Boston bombers" on the U.S. Turnbull tried to change the subject from the refugee agreement, but Trump ended the hour-long call after just 25 minutes, the Post reported.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.