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Donald Trump 'hung up' on Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull and people are feeling the burn

Donald Trump 'hung up' on Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull and people are feeling the burn
Donald Trump 'hung up' on Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull and people are feeling the burn

Australia has a pretty easygoing reputation, there’s no denying it. Which is probably why this latest revelation comes as a bit of a shock: 25 minutes into a phone call, Donald Trump apparently abruptly hung up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull.

The phone call took place on Saturday but it’s only now that the Washington Post has brought it to light. According to the Post, Trump disagreed with Turnbull over a refugee deal and “boasted” about his electoral college win.

Trump on the phone to Turnbull (Alex Brandon/AP)

They reported that senior US officials were briefed on the exchange and that Trump allegedly told the PM that out of the four other world leaders he’d spoken to that day (including Vladimir Putin) “this was the worst call by far”. Ouch.

But wait: it doesn’t stop there. Trump also reported accused Australia of trying to export the “next Boston bombers”, before hanging up.

There certainly doesn’t seem to be any love lost between the two world leaders – Trump’s Twitter has as per usual shown us what he really thinks of Turnbull’s attempt to follow through with the Obama administration’s pledge to take 1,250 refugees from Australia.

Even more awkwardly, over an hour before Trump sent this tweet, the US embassy in Canberra confirmed that the deal was going to go ahead.

It once again confirms that Trump is planning to make good on the promises he made about refugees and immigrants on the campaign trail.

People find his attitude towards a fellow world leader absolutely baffling. It’s not the first time Trump has treated another leader like this, but it is particularly shocking considering the traditionally warm relations between the US and Australia.

Turnbull has been mild in his response to Trump. He said at a news conference: “These conversations are conducted candidly, frankly, privately. If you see reports of them, I’m not going to add to them.”

However, people are finding the whole exchange pretty awkward for Turnbull.

Considering the relationship between the two countries, it is a pretty surprising move from Trump.

However, maybe it’s all a mistake! One of Australia’s biggest phone networks Telstra was down on Thursday with text messages being misrouted, so many people think that could be behind the brouhaha.

It remains to be seen how this will affect relations between the two countries moving forward.