During remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, President Donald Trump addressed reports that he had a contentious phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over the weekend.
According to the Washington Post, during his call with Turnbull, Trump said the Obama administration’s agreement to take in 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention center was “the worst deal ever,” and accused the country of seeking to send the “next Boston bombers” to the United States. Trump abruptly ended the call with the leader of one of the United States' closest allies before its scheduled conclusion, the Post reported.
After reports about the phone call started to circulate, Trump took to Twitter to call the Obama administration’s deal “dumb.”
At the prayer breakfast, Trump said not to “worry” when he has “tough phone calls.”
Pres. Trump: "When you hear about the tough phone calls I'm having, don't worry about it. Just don't worry about it." pic.twitter.com/V67KriktOe
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 2, 2017
“The world is in trouble, but we’re going to straighten it out, OK,” Trump said. “That’s what I do, I fix things, we’re going to straighten it out, believe me. When you hear about the tough phone calls I’m having, don’t worry about, just don’t worry about it. They're tough. We have to be tough, it's time we're going to be a little tough, folks. We're taken advantage of by every nation in the world, virtually. It's not going to happen anymore.”
Turnbull told reporters that he would not comment on the details of the conversation.
“Australians know me very well,” he said. “I stand up for Australia in every forum — public or private."
Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull refuses to comment on reports that President Trump hung up on him https://t.co/HsvFZaf9Rd pic.twitter.com/d7BHbTOKIm
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 2, 2017
