SYDNEY â Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull mocked Donald Trump in a speech Wednesday, mimicking the U.S. president’s manner of speaking and poking fun at a meeting between the two in the U.S. last month, according to leaked audio.
“It was beautiful,” Turnbull said of the meeting in May. “It was the most beautiful putting-me-at-ease ever.”
Turnbull’s comments were made at Australian parliament’s annual mid-winter ball, which journalists attend but are not allowed to report on. The recording was published by reporter Laurie Oakes, who does not go the ball because he objects to the off-the-record policy.
The Australian prime minister also referenced an investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged links with Russia in the lead-up to the U.S. election last year.
“The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much, we are winning, we are winning like we have never won before,” he said. “I have this Russian guy. Believe me, it’s true, it is true.”
Turnbull and Trump have a checkered history.
In February, the two had a toxic phone call in which Trump took issue with a deal, struck by Turnbull and former U.S. President Barack Obama in November, which would see the U.S. resettle vetted refugees from Australiaâs offshore detention centers. Trump reportedly yelled at Turnbull and called it âthe worst deal ever.”
The two met in May and appeared to have made up, with Trump celebrating the bond between the U.S. and Australia, which he said was âsealed with the blood of our fathers and grandfathers.â