‘Trump has a very big personality’: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull reflects on heated phone call
Trump blasted a refugee resettlement plan agreed to by predecessor Barack Obama, calling it a “dumb deal”
US President Donald Trump has a “very big personality” with a “very big job,” according to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
“We’ve had several conversations now, they’ve been constructive, frank and forthright,” Turnbull, 62, said on Tuesday in a Bloomberg Television interview in Sydney.
He said his government’s approach to dealing with the White House had not changed with the election of Trump.
We pursue our national interest methodically, calmly, consistently, we make our case very frankly, and forthrightly
“We pursue our national interest methodically, calmly, consistently, we make our case very frankly, and forthrightly, when we’re speaking to our American friends,” Turnbull said. “As you’d expect, with good friends, we are fairly circumspect about what we say in public.”
An important ally of the US in the Asia-Pacific, Australia has for years walked a line between supporting American interests in the region and engaging with China, its biggest trading partner.
But Turnbull’s relationship with Trump got off to a rocky start. In early February, Trump blasted a refugee resettlement plan agreed to by predecessor Barack Obama, calling it a “dumb deal”. That came after The Washington Post reported that Trump berated Turnbull in a phone call and then “abruptly ended” their conversation.
Trump later moved to patch things up, dispatching two top advisers to reassure Australia’s ambassador of American support for the alliance, and told business leaders in Washington “I love Australia as a country”.
“We give very frank advice and frank exchanges with our American counterparts, but we don’t do it, we don’t, you know, lecture them through the media,” Turnbull said in the interview.