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Trump "disappointed" at refugee deal with Australia: White House

Xinhua, February 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

The White House said Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump is "unbelievably disappointed" at the refugee deal that the Obama administration signed with Australia.

However, White House spokesman Sean Spicer suggested that Trump will allow the deal to move forward, while stressing that the refugees will go through "a very extreme vetting process."

"The president's goal is to make sure that every single one of those people, in accordance with the deal, and as discussed in the telephone conversation with the (Australian) Prime Minister (Malcolm Turnbull), is subject to extreme vetting," Spicer said.

The spokesman added that Trump has "tremendous respect" for Turnbull and for the Australian people.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that over a telephone conversation on Saturday, Trump blasted Turnbull over a refugee agreement.

"This is the worst deal ever," Trump fumed as Turnbull attempted to confirm that the United States would honor its pledge to take in 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention center, according to the newspaper.

The Washington Post also reported that Trump abruptly ended the call, but Turnbull told Australian media that the report is not correct.

On Wednesday, Trump returned to the topic, tweeting: "Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!" Endit