A transcript of newly-elected President Trump's first phone call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto shows Trump knew he'd painted himself into a corner campaigning on "The Wall" to be paid for by Mexico.
Trump was most concerned that the Mexican president continued to say his country would not be paying for any wall.
From the Washington Post:
“You cannot say that to the press,” Trump said repeatedly, according to a transcript of the Jan. 27 call obtained by The Washington Post. Trump made clear that he realized the funding would have to come from other sources but threatened to cut off contact if Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto continued to make defiant statements.
The funding “will work out in the formula somehow,” Trump said, adding later that “it will come out in the wash, and that is okay.” But “if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that.”
Trump also told with the Mexican president that he won the state of New Hampshire (he didn't) because "New Hampshire is a drug-infested den."
That's an American president denigrating a state to the head of a foreign nation.
The article goes on to chronicle Trump's heated conversation with Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a previous agreement by the U.S. to accept 1,250 economic refugees.
“I hate taking these people,” Trump said. “I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people” — an apparent reference to U.S. dairy farms.
Turnbull tried to salvage the deal, noting that the detainees were economic refugees who had not been accused of crimes. He explained that they were being denied entry into Australia because of a policy aimed at discouraging human smuggling.
“There is nothing more important in business or politics than a deal is a deal,” Turnbull said. “You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it.”
Trump only became angrier, saying the refugees could “become the Boston bomber in five years.”
“I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal that I would have never made,” Trump said. “As far as I am concerned, that is enough, Malcolm. I have had it.”
Response from the Twitterverse:
— Jonathan M. Katz 听不懂 (@KatzOnEarth) August 3, 2017
Dear @realDonaldTrump: As a Member of House Foreign Affairs Cmte, I'm reminding you that Australia & Mexico are our allies & Russia is not. https://t.co/5n2FbCzHwJ
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 3, 2017
NH's Republican Governor: "The President is wrong." pic.twitter.com/wGlFlibcLg— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 3, 2017
In Feb, when @gregpmiller & I reported tense Trump-Turnbull call, Trump called it "FAKE" & a lie. Greg got transcript showing it's very real https://t.co/wLcCUzpgNu— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 3, 2017
WaPo transcript confirms what most of us have known: that Donald is a con man.— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 3, 2017
His 33% approval rating shows others are realizing it too. https://t.co/CchSLAcgdx
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