Despite earlier spat, smooth sailing aboard Intrepid for Trump and Turnbull

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(Hot news Today Friday 5 May 2017)

Despite earlier spat, smooth sailing aboard Intrepid for Trump and Turnbull

US President Donald Trump meets with Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ahead of an event

commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, aboard the USS Intrepid Sea,

Air and Space Museum in New York, May 4, 2017. Photo: Reuters

Updated 9:35 PM, May 05, 2017 

NEW YORK — United States President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia on Thursday (May 4) downplayed the testy phone exchange that began their working relationship as they met face to face aboard the aircraft carrier Intrepid in Manhattan.

“We get along great. We have a fantastic relationship, I love Australia, I always have,” Mr Trump told reporters who witnessed a portion of the meeting between the two wealthy, iconoclastic, deal making politicians in a room near the ship’s main dining area.

The two attended a dinner aboard the Intrepid, now a museum docked in the Hudson River, to honour the 75th anniversary of the strategic victory of the US and Australia over Japan in the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II.

Their earlier encounter, an acrimonious first phone call in February, was spoiled by Mr Trump’s hostile reaction to a deal with Australia that President Barack Obama had negotiated in the final weeks of his second term. In it, the US agreed to take in as many as 1,250 refugees that Australia was holding at offshore detention centers.

During that call, Mr Trump told Mr Turnbull that the agreement would hurt his new administration politically, officials said at the time. The president said on Twitter after the phone conversation that the deal was “dumb” and that he would study it, raising concerns that the US might back out.

The White House later agreed to honour the agreement, provided the refugees were subject to “extreme vetting.” Since then, the two leaders have worked to move beyond the phone call.

“We can put the refugee deal behind you and move on,” Mr Turnbull said Thursday.

“It’s all worked out. It’s been worked out for a long time,” Mr Trump added. “We had a great telephone call. You guys exaggerated that call. That was a big exaggeration. We’re not babies.”

Mr Turnbull chuckled and said, “young at heart.”

“We had a very very good call. That was a little bit of fake news,” Mr Trump said. “That’s exactly right,” Mr Turnbull chimed in.

After the call, Mr Trump praised Mr Turnbull for his low-key description of the conversation. In turn, Mr Turnbull refused to be drawn into criticising the leader of a close ally.

Thursday’s dinner was attended by Mr Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-born media mogul and an informal adviser to Mr Trump.

An earlier meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Turnbull that had been planned at a hotel blocks from Trump Tower was scrapped when the president remained in Washington for the passage of the House bill repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. The delay in Mr Trump’s schedule allowed him to circumvent some of the noisiest protests of his trip in Manhattan.

In their pre-dinner meeting, Mr Trump said Australia has better health care than the US. “We’re going to have great health care very soon,” he said.

However, there was an awkward moment when the two leaders met after Mr Trump’s victory in repealing the healthcare bill. Mr Turnbull stuck out his hand to congratulate Mr Trump on his win but his outstretched hand went unnoticed as the US president faced the cameras.

The Australian premier was quick to diffuse the situation by continuing the conversation. Mr Trump later offered his hand to the Australian leader. Mr Turnbull leaned and reached across the table for the handshake.

Later, in tandem speeches, Mr Turnbull and Mr Trump affirmed their countries’ relationships. Mr Trump was introduced by Mr Murdoch, whom the president called a “good friend.” Mr Trump described the nations as “rebellious children of the same parent.”

He conceded that his phone call with Mr Turnbull had been “a little bit testy, but that’s OK. We have a very good relationship.” And he gently mocked Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, who has promised to invest US$2 billion (S$2.8 billion) over the course of a decade in American jobs. “That’s peanuts for Anthony. You can do better,” Mr Trump said.

The Intrepid visit symbolised the bonds of a military alliance that dates from World War I and that has grown to encompass extensive intelligence-sharing, joint military exercises and shoulder-to-shoulder combat campaigns.

Two weeks ago, the US Navy sent the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its strike group to the Indian Ocean to conduct a major exercise with warships from the Australian navy. The US Navy kept the date even after it announced that the Carl Vinson was being deployed to waters off the Korean Peninsula to respond to a growing crisis over North Korea.

Miscommunication over the carrier’s route proved to be embarrassing for the White House, after the discovery of photographs of the Carl Vinson showed that it was thousands of miles south of the Korean Peninsula.

Officials said that the military exercises showed the determination of the US Navy not to jilt its Australian partners.

That is not to say Mr Trump’s presidency has not rattled Australia. The president’s statements about putting America’s interests first - and his warnings that allies have to pay a greater share of their own security - have left some in Australia questioning whether the US will retreat from its position in Asia.

During their meeting, Mr Trump briefed Mr Turnbull about his strategy for dealing with the mounting nuclear threat from North Korea. They also talked about the US-led campaign against the Islamic State.

Mr Turnbull, a member of the progressive wing of the Liberal Party of Australia, has little in common with Mr Trump on many of his positions. But he has borrowed some of his populist language on immigration, an issue that is as fraught in Australia as it is in the US.

The Australian leader recently announced proposals that would limit the number of permanent residents settling in his country, and that would make it harder for immigrants to become citizens. Fluency in English, a test of “Australian values” and a longer waiting period are part of the proposal, which was widely viewed as an effort to keep Mr Turnbull’s government from being toppled by rivals on the right.

“We are putting jobs first; we are putting Australians first,” the prime minister said. “We are an immigration nation but the fact remains that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs.” AGENCIES