Month: February 2017

It’s so hard to be a running dog these days…

It’s so hard to be a running dog these days…

It should have been one of the most congenial calls for the new commander in chief — a conversation with the leader of Australia, one of America’s staunchest allies, at the end of a triumphant week.

Instead, President Donald Trump blasted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refu­gee agreement and boasted about the magnitude of his electoral college win, according to senior US officials briefed on the Saturday exchange. Then, 25 minutes into what was expected to be an hour-long call, Mr Trump abruptly ended it.

The US President reportedly abruptly ended a call with PM Malcolm Turnbull describing it as the worst call and the refugee deal also the worst. Courtesy ABC News 24.

At one point, Mr Trump informed Mr Turnbull that he had spoken with four other world leaders that day — including Russian President Vladi­mir Putin — and that “this was the worst call by far”.

Mr Trump’s behaviour suggests that he is capable of subjecting world leaders, including close allies, to a version of the vitriol he frequently employs against political adversaries and news organisations in speeches and on Twitter.

“This is the worst deal ever,” Mr Trump fumed as Mr Turnbull attempted to confirm that the United States would honour its pledge to take in 1250 refugees from an Australian detention centre.

Mr Trump, who one day earlier had signed an executive order temporarily barring the admissions of refugees, complained that he was “going to get killed” politically and accused Australia of seeking to export the “next Boston bombers”.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/no-gday-mate-on-call-with-australian-pm-trump-badgers-and-brags/2017/02/01/88a3bfb0-e8bf-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d_story.html