Since his election to the presidency, Donald Trump has spoken on the phone to a number of world leaders. And in at least some of these calls, according to some accounts, the American leader lived up to his reputation for straight-talking and bombastic rhetoric.
Here’s what we know so far about some of these calls.
Australia
Details of President Trump’s call Saturday with the leader of Australia, a key ally of the United States, provoked widespread surprise.
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Senior U.S. officials have said that during the call, the president blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refugee deal that was reached under the Obama administration. “This is the worst deal ever,” Trump told Turnbull as the Australian leader attempted to confirm that the United States would honour its pledge to take in 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention centre.
According to these accounts, Trump said that the deal meant he would “get killed” politically and accused Australia of seeking to export the “next Boston bombers.” The president also bragged about the size of his electoral college win (though that win was relatively small compared to previous elections).
Trump appeared dismissive of the Australian leader in this account, telling him that “this was the worst call by far,” abruptly ending the scheduled hour-long call after just 25 minutes.
Although this depiction of the call is at odds with the polite account shared by the White House, administration officials have acknowledged the call was hostile and tense. ABC News Australia spoke to sources in Canberra who said that combative account of the call was “substantially accurate.” Turnbull himself also alluded to a disagreement in a radio interview after the story broke, describing the discussion during the call as “frank and forthright.”
Meanwhile, Trump took to Twitter to air his grievances about the refugee deal.
“Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!”
A. Odysseus Patrick contributed reporting.
Britain
Unlike other world leaders, British Prime Minister Theresa May met Trump at the White House. But she wasn’t the first British politician to meet him since the election. Nigel Farage, the former leader of the U.K. Independence Party, met with him at Trump Towers shortly after the November election, which was viewed by some as a snub to the prime minister. (Farage had previously appeared with Trump on the campaign trail.)
May did speak with Trump via phone Nov. 10. During the call — according to the Times of London — May’s team was astonished by the informal and casual language used by Trump. According to the British newspaper, Trump told the British leader: “If you travel to the U.S., you should let me know.”
Downing Street later refused to deny that account.
By Karla Adam in London
China
As a candidate, Trump spent a lot of time bashing China. But according to both the Chinese and U.S. sides, the first call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump was basically perfect. Official accounts suggest it was a tightly scripted exchange of diplomatic platitudes — Xi’s style, sure, but not standard operating procedure for Trump.
Xinhua, a party-controlled newswire, said Xi congratulated Trump and stressed co-operation. “I attach great importance to China-U. S. relations and am ready to work with the U.S. side to carry forward bilateral ties and to better benefit the two peoples and the rest of the world,” said Xi, according to Xinhua.
The newswire also published a summary of Trump’s remarks. “For his part, Trump thanked Xi for the congratulations and said that he agreed with Xi on his views about U.S.-China relations,” Xinhua wrote.
“China is a great and important country with eye-catching development prospects,” said Trump, according to Xinhua. “The United States and China can achieve win-win results featuring mutual benefits.”
Even accounting for the vagaries of translation,” eye-catching development prospects” and “win-win results featuring mutual benefits” sounds much more like party-speak than the U.S. president. Trump’s camp did not confirm or deny the remarks, but noted the leaders “established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another” on the call.
That sense of respect, however, did not stop the Trump camp from blindsiding China’s leaders with an altogether different exchange: his protocol-busting Dec. 3 call with Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen.
By Emily Rauhala in Beijing
Japan
In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — who was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after the election and will meet with him again for a summit and golf outing next week — has been falling over himself to get in Trump’s good graces.
Their call last Saturday was full of mutual admiration. The president flattered his Japanese counterpart, an economic nationalist who, years before Trump coined his slogan, had vowed to “make Japan a beautiful country again.”
“My daughter Ivanka thinks very highly of you, and she rarely praises anyone,” Trump told Abe, according to several reports. Ivanka Trump had also told her father to follow the “very clever” Japanese prime minister — according to the Japanese prime minister’s office.
When Abe mentioned the need to shore up their security alliance, Trump reportedly responded: “I’m dispatching Mad Dog to Japan quickly. This is very meaningful. I trust him so please talk to him about anything.” The president was referring to his defence secretary, Jim Mattis, who will arrive in Tokyo on Friday.
Trump also remembered to thank Abe for the golf driver he’d given the election victor in November. In fact, that’s how Saturday’s golf date came about, according to Jiji Press. Abe suggested: “Let’s play golf together someday.” Trump responded: “Washington in February is too cold to play golf. Let’s go to Florida and play golf in Palm Beach the day after our meeting.”
The pair are now due to play at Trump’s resort at Palm Beach on Feb. 11.
By Anna Fifield in Tokyo
India
Trump spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Jan. 24. According to the official accounts of that call, the two leaders discussed the economy, defence, regional security and terrorism. The White House said that Trump called India a “true friend and partner” and invited Modi to Washington. Modi later returned the invitation in a tweet about their “warm conversation.”
Despite the warm accounts, Indian officials have been appalled by the reports of a seemingly-fawning call Trump had with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in November.
Annie Gowen in Delhi contributed reporting.
Mexico
Officials told The Washington Post that Trump’s call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Friday morning was marked by hostility. The two men have been at loggerheads over Trump’s vow to force Mexico to pay for construction of a border wall between the two countries. Trump’s repeated insistence that Mexico would pay for that wall prompted Peña Nieto to cancel a planned meeting with Trump.
Some accounts suggested an extremely tense conversation. However, Mexican officials have pushed back on that version of events.
Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said in an interview with foreign reporters on Wednesday that “there are significant differences in the positions” of the U.S. and Mexico. “Some of those differences were reiterated by both sides. But the conversation was constructive. And the most important thing was the agreement to keep working, to keep having dialogue, to reach good agreements.”
Joshua Partlow in Mexico City contributed reporting.
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