Trump sends chief advisers to calm situation with Australia after call
President Trump dispatched his chief advisers, Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus, to meet with the Australian ambassador to the U.S., Joe Hockey, following a leak of a tense phone call Mr. Trump had with the nation’s prime minister last weekend.
The meeting took place at the White House, according to an Australian embassy spokesperson.
A White House official told Bloomberg that Bannon, the White House chief strategist, and Priebus, the White House chief of staff, expressed admiration for the Australian people.
This comes after The Washington Post reported late Wednesday that the Mr. Trump spoke to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last Saturday and slammed him a deal that was struck under the Obama administration that would allow mostly Muslim refugees rejected by Australia to be resettled in the U.S. (the president also complained about the refugee deal over Twitter after the Post article was published).
Mr. Trump also was said to have abruptly ended what was supposed to be an hour-long call after just 25 minutes. It was one of a series of calls with foreign leaders Mr. Trump had made that day, and according to the Post, he declared to Turnbull, “This was the worst call by far,” the report said.
On Thursday, lawmakers slammed Mr. Trump for his behavior and defended Australia. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, even called Hockey to express his “unwavering support for the U.S.-Australia alliance.”
Mr. Trump tweeted Friday morning that the reports about the tense phone call was “fake news.”
Thank you to Prime Minister of Australia for telling the truth about our very civil conversation that FAKE NEWS media lied about. Very nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2017