Trump’s ‘dumb deal’ tweet puts group in Australia at risk
President Donald Trump blasted a refugee resettlement deal with Australia in a late-night tweet, throwing the fate of more than 1,000 displaced people and raised questions over the US’s relationship with a key ally.
“Do you believe it? The Obama administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!,” Trump tweeted. The resettlement plan involves sending refugees being held by Australia in offshore camps, many of them from the Middle East or South Asia, on to the US.
The message came after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull defended his relationship with Australia’s biggest ally in the wake of a Washington Post report that Trump had berated him over the deal. Trump “abruptly ended” a phone call with the Australian leader on January 28 after 25 minutes even though they had been scheduled to speak for an hour, the paper said. It cited unidentified US officials who were briefed about the conversation.
During the call, Trump labelled the resettlement plan “the worst deal ever”, the paper reported. The president told Turnbull he had spoken to four other global leaders that day, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and “this was the worst call by far”, it said.
On radio on Thursday after Trump’s tweet, Turnbull said he still expected the deal would go ahead. He added he was “very disappointed” over the leak and said the call with Trump ended “courteously”.
FRANK AND FORTHRIGHT
“The question is, will he commit to honour the deal and he has given that commitment,” Turnbull said. The call was “very frank and forthright”, he said, declining to give further details.
Earlier in the day when asked about the Washington Post report, Turnbull described Australia’s relationship with the US as “very strong”. White House spokesman Sean Spicer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since taking office two weeks ago, Trump and his senior officials have lashed out at several leaders, criticising Japan, Germany and China for their trade and currency policies and signalling a more disruptive approach to the US’s relationships — even if a country is a long-term ally.
Late on Wednesday, a Mexican presidential spokesman denied Trump had told President Enrique Pena Nieto he might send US troops into Mexico and said there was no threatening tone.
Earlier the Associated Press cited an excerpt of a transcript in reporting that Trump had told Pena Nieto he could dispatch US soldiers to deal with “bad hombres” unless Mexico’s military could better control them.
Australia is the only country to have fought in every conflict by the side of the US since the First World War and is flying combat missions in Syria.
Former president Barack Obama heralded Australia as a vital link in his pivot to Asia, a policy that was seen as a counterpoint to China’s rising influence. In 2011, Obama secured a deal to base as many as 2,500 Marines in Darwin.