US President Donald Trump told Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull he was bothered and disappointed by the agreement made by former President Barack Obama to take in refugees detained in that country, although their telephone conversation was "very cordial," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday.
In the phone call, which took place last weekend, Trump nevertheless made clear to Turnbull that he was "incredibly disappointed" with the agreement, Spicer said in his daily press briefing.
According to The Washington Post, during the phone call with the Australian leader, Trump criticized the agreement reached by Obama to accept the 1,250 refugees that Australia is detaining at centers in the South Sea island nation of Nauru and on the Papua New Guinea island of Manus, which he called "the worst deal ever," complaining that he was "going to get killed" politically over it in the United States.
Trump also accused Australia of seeking to export the "next Boston bomber" - in reference to a 2013 terror attack on the Boston Marathon - by trying to send the refugees to the US.
Many of these refugees come from the seven majority-Muslim countries recently banned by Trump from entering the US.
The daily also reported that the billionaire tycoon told Turnbull that their conversation was "the worst so far" out of the five he had had with other international leaders, including Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Trump terminated the call that had been scheduled to last an hour after just 25 minutes.
Spicer on Thursday stressed the "respect" that Trump has for Turnbull and the Australian people, but he insisted that the refugee deal is something the president is "unbelievably disappointed" about because of its implications for US security.
The press secretary said that Trump will abide by the accord but added that the refugees will be subjected to "extreme vetting" before they are allowed to enter the US.
Without mentioning his phone call with Turnbull, a few hours ago Trump tweeted "Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!"
Trump admitted Thursday that he is being "tough" and will continue with that stance in his phone calls with other international leaders, because "We're being taken advantage by every nation in the world, virtually. It's not going to happen anymore."
"When you hear about the tough phone calls I'm having, don't worry about it," Trump said at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, an event that blends politics and religion and which is traditionally held in Washington on the first Thursday in February.
Trump did not specifically mention the phone calls to which he was referring, but over the past couple of days controversial details of his calls with Turnbull and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto have been leaked.
Australia has historically been a loyal ally of the US, participating in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars launched by ex-President George W. Bush.
Source: EFE
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