Top Republican figures on Capitol Hill sought to reassure Australia on Thursday after reports of a remarkably tense phone call between President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Australia was a “very essential” U.S. ally after being pressed in a morning news conference by reporters on the call, as well as on a
tweet late Wednesday in which Trump dismissed an agreement to accept refugees from Australia as a “dumb deal.”
“I don’t think Australia should be worried about its relationship with our new president, or with our country, for that matter,” Ryan said, making reference to a
September meeting he had with Turnbull. “Australia is a very important and central ally. It’s going to continue to be.”
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