‘I WILL BE SEEN AS WEAK, INEFFECTIVE’
Transcripts of President Donald Trump’s conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia in January offer new details on how the president parried with the leaders over the politics of the border wall and refugee policy — with random asides on such subjects as drug abuse in New Hampshire and dealing with Canada.
Transcripts published Friday by The Washington Post, reveal new details about the exchanges between the president and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Highlights from the conversations:
CANADA
The president suggests he had an overwhelmingly positive attitude toward Canada. Trump told the Mexican president that he got huge crowds during the campaign, promising throngs of 25,000 to 50,000 people that Mexico would pay for the wall. Pena Nieto supposedly encouraged a more positive discussion: He urged Trump to focus on the fact that the three NAFTA countries could negotiate a new trade framework. That prompted a rejoinder from Trump.
“Canada is no problem,” Trump replied, according to the leaked transcript.
“Do not worry about Canada, do not even think about them. That is a separate thing and they are fine and we have had a very fair relationship with Canada. It has been much more balanced and much more fair. So we do not have to worry about Canada, we do not even think about them.”
Those remarks echo public comments he made a few days later at a news conference with Justin Trudeau.
POLITICS OF THE WALL
Trump acknowledges that talk about building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border is more about image management than economic policy.
“Believe it or not, this is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important talk about,” he said. “But in terms of dollars — or pesos — it is the least important thing.”
He acknowledges both leaders are “in a little bit of a political bind” because each has vowed not to pay for the wall.
“If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that,” he adds
Pena Nieto tells Trump: “Let us stop talking about the wall . ... But my position has been and will continue to be very firm saying that Mexico cannot pay for that wall.”
‘DRUG DEN’ INSULT
Trump says he won New Hampshire “because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.” Trump won the GOP primary in New Hampshire. Democrat Hillary Clinton won the state in the general election. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday bristled at Trump’s description.
“The president is wrong,” Sununu said in a statement, adding that overdoses and drug-related deaths are declining in key parts of the state. “It’s disappointing his mischaracterization of this epidemic ignores the great things this state has to offer.”
REFUGEE DEAL — BAD OPTICS
In the Turnbull call, Trump complains about being saddled with an Obama administration agreement to help resettle some refugees who attempted to reach Australia by boat, particularly as Trump is rolling out his travel ban.
“Boy, that will make us look awfully bad,” Trump says. “Here I am calling for a ban where I am not letting anybody in and we take 2,000 people. Really it looks like 2,000 people that Australia does not want, and I do not blame you by the way, but the United States has become like a dumping ground.”
Turnbull counters that “this is a big deal, and I think we should respect deals.”
Trump returns: “This is going to kill me. I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country. And now I am agreeing to take 2,000 people, and I agree I can vet them, but that puts me in a bad position.”
DIPLOMACY AND DEALS
Turnbull, in pressing for the refugee deal to be honoured, repeatedly appeals to Trump’s background as a dealmaker.
“There is nothing more important in business or politics than a deal is a deal,” he says.
Trump tells the Australian leader: “You have brokered many a stupid deal in business, and I respect you, but I guarantee that you broke many a stupid deal. This is a stupid deal. This deal will make me look terrible ... I am going to get killed on this thing.”
He adds: “I will be seen as a weak and ineffective leader in my first week by these people. This is a killer.”
Turnbull offers some advice: “You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it.”