Donald Trump warned Malcolm Turnbull a deal to resettle 1,250 asylum seekers from Australia’s offshore detention centres in the United States was “going to kill me”, according to a full transcript of the leaders’ call in January .
The prime minister told Mr Trump he had the option of taking none of the asylum seekers.
"You can decide to take 1,000 or 100. It is entirely up to you,” said Mr Turnbull, according to the transcript.
"The obligation is to only go through the process."
President Trump expressed strong disapproval about the deal, referring to the cohort as “prisoners” and saying “I guarantee you they are bad”.
“I do not want to have more San Bernardinos or World Trade Centres,” Mr Trump said.
'Economic refugees'
Mr Turnbull sought to reassure the US president, telling him they were “not in that league” but rather were economic opportunists.
“They are basically economic refugees from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan,” Mr Turnbull said.
“That is the vast bulk of them. They have been under our supervision for over three years now and we know exactly everything about them.”
“There is nothing more important in business or politics than a deal is a deal."
'We will not let you in'
Mr Trump asked Mr Turnbull why he was not settling the 1,250 people in Australia. Mr Turnbull said it was about creating a disincentive for people smugglers to take people by boat.
“Even if we think you are the best person in the world, even if you are a Nobel Prize-winning genius, we will not let you in,” Mr Turnbull said, according to the transcript.
Mr Trump replied: “That is a good idea. We should do that too. You are worse than I am.”
But the Australian leader pressed Mr Trump on the importance of honouring the Obama-era deal.
“There is nothing more important in business or politics than a deal is a deal,” Mr Turnbull said.
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By the end of the call, Mr Trump agreed that the deal would go ahead, but expressed his unhappiness.
“Malcolm, I am going to say that I have no choice but to honour my predecessor’s deal. I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal, that I would have never made,” Mr Trump said.
“It is an embarrassment to the United States of America and you can say it just the way I said it. I will say it just that way. As far as I am concerned, that is enough, Malcolm.”
He went on: “I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous.”
A number of Australian politicians have expressed disdain about the conversation.
Greens immigration spokesman Nick McKim said Turnbull's leaked phone call was proof the Australian government trades refugees like cattle.
"This is is leaving well over a thousand people in a terrible limbo," Senator Nick McKim said in Hobart.
"The Australian people do not want to see other human beings treated like cattle and traded in the marketplace."
Mr McKim has called on the government to resettle refugees held on Manus Island and Nauru in Australia.
-With AAP
