02 February 2017•Update: 03 February 2017
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
Leading Republican lawmaker John McCain was in damage control mode Thursday after a telephone call last weekend between close allies, U.S. and Australia, turned testy.
McCain phoned Australian envoy to Washington, Joe Hockey, early Thursday "to express my unwavering support for the U.S.-Australia alliance.
"I asked Ambassador Hockey to convey to the people of Australia that their American brothers and sisters value our historic alliance, honor the sacrifice of the Australians who have served and are serving by our side, and remain committed to the safer, freer, and better world that Australia does far more than its fair share to protect and promote," McCain said in a statement.
President Donald Trump on Saturday held a call with the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that was quickly scuttled as Trump questioned a Barack Obama-era agreement between the countries to resettle 1,250 refugees in Australia in the U.S., according to the Washington Post newspaper.
On a day filled with calls with foreign leaders, Trump informed Turnbull "this was the worst call by far", using his now trademark brashness with one of the U.S.’s closest allies.
Fuming, Trump claimed the agreement would lead to him getting "killed” politically, and said Melbourne was trying to send terrorists to the U.S.
The planned hour-long conversation quickly ran its course, ending just 25-minutes after it began.
Apparently not done with the matter, Trump said on Twitter on late Wednesday: "Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!"
Many of those refugees the U.S. agreed to accept come from countries now on a 90-day blacklist Trump signed into effect last week.
The characterizations in the Washington Post's report are unsurprisingly at odds with the version released by the White House.
In a two-sentence readout of the call, the executive mansion said Turnbull and Trump "emphasized the enduring strength and closeness of the U.S.-Australia relationship that is critical for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and globally" during their conversation.
