Speaking to reporters before a meeting at the White House, the 70-year-old has said that he “loves” Australia and fully intends to honour a refugee deal made between Australia and then-US president, Barack Obama.
“If a previous administration does something you have to respect that but you can also say ‘Why are we doing this?'” Trump said while speaking at the meeting with US steelworkers.
Trump added, “I have a lot of respect for Australia.”
“I love Australia as a country but I have a problem where for whatever reason president Obama said they were going to take probably well over 1000 illegal immigrants who were in prisons.”
“… 1250, could be 2000, could be more than that and I said ‘Why? Why are we doing this?’.”
White House spokesman Sean Spicer added that refugees will only be allowed into the US if they pass extreme vetting.
Earlier in the morning, at a speech in Washington D.C., Trump alluded to a fiery phone call he shared with Malcolm Turnbull.
“When you hear about the tough phone calls I’m having, don’t worry about it,” Trump told the audience.
“Just don’t worry about it. They’re tough. We have to be tough.”
“It’s time we have to be a little tough folks.”
He added, “We are taken advantage of by every nation in the world virtually. It’s not going to happen anymore.”
The scene of the history-making phone call.
The comments come after a brouhaha emerged late on Thursday, February 2, when political sources revealed to The Washington Post that a recent phone call between the two world leaders ended anything but diplomatically.
Trump is said to have raged that the deal – which involves a commitment for the US to take 1,250 refugees from Nauru – was “the worst deal ever.”
During the conversation, Trump reportedly informed Turnbull that he had spoken with four other world leaders that day and that “This was the worst call by far.”
It is also claimed that he told Turnbull this would mean he’s “going to get killed” politically and that Australia were seeking to export the “next Boston bomber.”
President Donald Trump isn’t the only one in damage control after the explosive comments made headlines this week.
Quashing fears surrounding the Australian-US alliance, US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters, “Australia is a very central ally.”
He added: “They are and will continue to be.”
Similarly, while appearing on CNN, Senator Lindsey Graham rather bluntly condemned Trump’s comments saying, “I wish he would sleep more and tweet less… There’s probably better ways to handle this.”
