 |
| US President Donald Trump |
Trump 'unbelievably disappointed' in Australia deal
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House deepened its condemnation of an Obama administration refugee deal with Australia Thursday, saying President Donald Trump was "unbelievably disappointed" in the agreement.
Asked whether the deal would continue, Trump said, "We'll see what happens." However, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Australians that the American president has committed to following through with the agreement to allow mostly Muslim refugees to resettle in the United States.
The agreement was a source of friction during a recent phone call between Trump and Turnbull, according to an administration official. The call ended after less than 30 minutes, well earlier than scheduled. The official disputed reports that Trump hung up on the prime minister and Turnbull himself said Trump didn't hang up and that the call ended courteously. The U.S. official was not authorized to publicly discuss the conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Read the full story at The Mainichi
---
 |
| Aus PM Malcolm Turnbull (Image: Wiki Commons) |
Trump's clash with Australia strains alliance
SYDNEY (AP) -- For decades, Australia and the U.S. have enjoyed the coziest of relationships, collaborating on everything from military and intelligence to diplomacy and trade. Yet an irritable tweet President Donald Trump fired off about Australia and a dramatic report of an angry phone call between the nations' leaders proves that the new U.S. commander in chief has changed the playing field for even America's staunchest allies.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was left scrambling to defend his country's allegiance to the U.S. after The Washington Post published a report on Thursday detailing a tense exchange that allegedly took place during the Australian leader's first telephone call with Trump since he became president. During the call, the Post reported, Trump ranted about an agreement struck with the Obama administration that would allow a group of mostly Muslim refugees rejected by Australia to be resettled in the United States.
The newspaper said Trump dubbed it "the worst deal ever" and accused Turnbull of seeking to export the "next Boston bombers" -- a reference to Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who were born in Kyrgyzstan and set off explosives at the 2013 Boston marathon.
Though Turnbull declined to confirm the report, he also didn't deny it, apart from rejecting one detail -- that Trump had hung up on him. The prime minister insisted his country's relationship with the U.S. remained strong, and that the refugee deal with the U.S. was still on.
Read the full story at The Mainichi