SYDNEY â Australian officials are scrambling to paint a toxic phone call between their Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and U.S. President Donald Trump as a case of a man standing up to a bully â and winning.
The weekend call went south over a deal, struck by Turnbull and Barack Obama in November, which would see the U.S. resettle vetted refugees from Australia’s offshore detention centers. It would cover some 1,250 people, predominantly from Iran, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, being held in detention centers on the Pacific island of Nauru and Papua New Guineaâs Manus Island (though the U.S. is under no obligation to take all of them).
The Washington Post, quoting senior Trump officials, said the president told Turnbull it was “the worst deal ever.” As the tone deteriorated, Trump told Turnbull it was “the worst call by far” of the five with world leaders he had had that day and hung up abruptly. In a signature policy-in-140-characters-or-less move, after leaked details of the phone call spread, Trump took to Twitter to slam the “dumb deal” and tell his followers he was considering its future.
It was a very different picture from the one painted immediately after the call, which took place on Saturday in the U.S., already Sunday morning in Australia. Turnbull called it “constructive” and the White House said “both leaders emphasized the enduring strength and closeness of the U.S.-Australia relationship.” Both sides confirmed after the call that the refugee swap would go ahead, despite Trump’s travel ban on migrants from seven Muslim-majority states. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer reiterated the deal was still on, with refugees subject to “extreme vetting.”
Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
Early Thursday, as the Washington Post report spread, Australian media added details such as the fact that Trump yelled at Turnbull during the conversation. In media appearances over the course of the morning, the Australian prime minister affected a dignified silence. Noting he was disappointed over the leak of “purported details” of the call, Turnbull insisted the conversation ended “courteously” and denied only that the U.S. president had hung up on him.
A Turnbull staffer told POLITICO she could not comment on whether the call was shorter than expected, because talk time “is not that regimented.” She added the call “reached its natural end.”
How dare he…
A theory, advanced by Australian columnist Van Badham, spread like wildfire through Canberra: Perhaps when Trump was briefed prior to the call, his staffers had neglected to tell him that Turnbull’s Liberal Party is, despite its name, actually right wing.
Australian cabinet ministers hit their phones, telling journalists Turnbull was right to stand up to the American “bully,” that he refused to back down and pushed Trump to honor his predecessor’s commitment. According to the Australian version of events, Trump and his team were angry at being outmaneuvered and leaked details that were meant to make the president look tough and unyielding.
By Thursday afternoon, Turnbull’s lips loosened too. “As far as the nature of the discussion, it was very frank and forthright,” he told 2GB radio. “IÂ stand up for Australiaâs interests. I make Australiaâs case as powerfully and persuasively as I can, wherever I am.”
The PM said he had a “clear commitment” from Trump â âconfirmed several times now by the [U.S.] government” â that he would stick to the deal.
Turnbull, whose popularity is waning, needs the deal to work, not least because a similar agreement with Cambodia from 2014 has been an unmitigated disaster. Australia agreed to pay Cambodia A$55 million (close to â¬40 million) to resettle refugees arriving by boat, but in three years only five have agreed to go there, and just one stayed. Meanwhile, the thousand-plus remaining refugees are held virtually indefinitely in offshore detention centers because they can’t come to Australia â which refuses to settle asylum seekers who arrive on its shores by boat.
The centers, notorious for their harsh conditions, are a national sore, attracting U.N. condemnation and protests at home. Turnbull, known prior to his prime ministership as a progressive on social issues, is keen to clear them and move on.
Though it seems unlikely, there is a chance the deal with the U.S. may yet hold, with Trump presenting himself as an unwilling participant. A U.S. embassy spokeswoman in Canberra said Thursday she could “verify we provided a statement [earlier in the afternoon] that confirmed that President Trump’s decision was to honor the refugee agreement and spokesman Spicer’s comments stand.”
But even if Trump pulls out, Turnbull has scored some much-needed political points at home.
John F. Kennedy once described Australians as “very satisfactory friends in peace, and the best of friends in war.” Having backed Washington in virtually every conflict from Vietnam to Afghanistan, Australia reacted with indignation to Trump’s treatment of Turnbull. Media personality Tony Wilson summed up the mood: “How dare Trump disrespect our prime minister and speak to him like a chickenshit,” he tweeted. “That’s our job.”
How dare Trump disrespect our Prime Minister and speak to him like a chickenshit. That's our job. #auspol
— Tony Wilson (@byTonyWilson) February 2, 2017