Leader of the Australian Opposition Party: Prime Minister Should Explain His Phone Call with Trump

Following a phone conversation between Donald Trump, the President of the United States, and the Prime Minister of Australia, and the ensuing controversies, the leader of the Australian Labor Party, Bill Shorten, has called on Malcolm Turnbull to provide details of this conversation to the public. The Washington Post, citing sources within the White House, reported that Donald Trump became upset during discussions regarding the agreement to send refugees to the U.S. and abruptly ended the call. The Washington Post adds that the U.S. President told the Australian Prime Minister that this conversation was the 'worst' among those he had with world leaders. Trump referred to the Obama administration's agreement to accept over a thousand Middle Eastern refugees from Australia as a 'dumb deal' on his Twitter. Now, Bill Shorten, referring to the Washington Post report, states that a different narrative of this conversation has emerged, which contradicts the Prime Minister's statements. The Australian Prime Minister had described his conversation with Donald Trump as frank and constructive. Bill Shorten said, 'I tell Mr. Turnbull: Speak directly to the people of Australia and tell us what happened.' The Labor leader added, 'We do not want to get our news from the Washington Post. We should hear this news from our own Prime Minister.' He emphasized, 'Regardless of who is in power in the White House or Canberra, we must treat our allies with respect.' While Australian and American media had highlighted the phone conversation between the two leaders, Mr. Trump tweeted: 'Can you believe it? The Obama administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I am reviewing this dumb deal.'