Timeline of Trump-Turnbull spat

SYDNEY: US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were at loggerheads Thursday as the fiery billionaire continued to rip up the foreign policy rulebook in a spat with a loyal ally.

Canberra and Washington reached a "one-off" agreement in November to resettle in the United States an unspecified number of the 1,600 people Australia holds in offshore processing centres at Nauru and Papua New Guinea in the Pacific. Many are Iranian.

Trump's executive order on January 27 temporarily halting all refugee arrivals and stopping travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries - including Iran - sparked uncertainty in Australia, where questions were raised over whether the new administration would stick to the deal.



Here's what happened after that:

Trump and Turnbull hold a pre-arranged phone call in which the refugee deal is discussed.

In a standard-looking readout of the call, Australia announces that Trump will honour the accord struck under his predecessor, with Turnbull declining to join international criticism of the travel ban and thanking Trump "for his commitment" to the deal.

White House spokesperson Sean Spicer confirms the deal will move forward, with the refugees to be the subject of "extreme vetting".
The Washington Post, citing US government sources, reports that far from being a convivial chat, Trump lambasted Turnbull over the refugee accord and cut the conversation short. He reportedly said it was "the worst call by far" of the four he had with world leaders that day.

Turnbull tells reporters such conversations should be conducted "candidly, frankly, privately". He added that the relationship with the United States was "very strong."



The US embassy in Canberra states that the refugee agreement has not changed and Spicer's comments stand, according to Turnbull.

The Australian leader added that this was confirmed to the US State Department by the White House and relayed to his government.

Trump lashes out at the deal in a tweet that reads:

Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017

Turnbull denies Trump hung up on him and says he is disappointed details of the "very frank and forthright" exchange were leaked. However, he insists the US president agreed to honour the refugee deal.