Donald Trump pleads for help - Washington Post transcripts

Evidently, The Washington Post found a reliable "deep throat", somebody who knows how to get to the truth. Only one week on the job, and Donald Trump is calling on "Enrique" and "Malcolm", to plead for cooperation with his campaign promises.

Donald Trump would never've knowingly released these executive telephone conversations. As a matter of fact, even a Freedom of Information query (FOA) would've been buried in bureaucracy- but The Washington Post knows how to obtain information!

‘This deal will make me look terrible’: Full transcripts of Trump’s calls with Mexico and Australia

By Greg Miller, Julie Vitkovskaya and Reuben Fischer-Baum

Obviously, Donald Trump was anxious to hit the ground running during his first week, post inauguration.  Well, he sure didn't do his homework before making phone calls to Mexico and Australia. Apparently, Donald Trump didn't consult his international diplomacy experts before engaging in these two conversations, as he responded to the nation's leaders like they were children, rather than his colleagues.

The transcripts were prepared by the White House, but they haven't been released. The Washington Post is publishing reproductions, rather than original documents, in order to protect sources. The reproductions below also include minor spelling and grammatical mistakes that appeared in the documents.

President Enrique Peña Nieto

During the conversation with Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto, the leader of Mexico refers to "Mr. President" when speaking to Donald Trump. On the other hand, Donald Trump calls the leader of Mexico, "Enrique". It's not a conversations of two equals. Weird.

Trump tweets, once again, that Mexico will pay for the wall. 

Facing political pressure at home, Peña Nieto cancels his Jan. 31 trip to Washington."Okay Enrique," says Trump. "...when the press brings up the wall, I will say, 'let us see how it is going – let us see how it is working out with Mexico.' Because, from an economic issue, it is the least important thing we were talking about, but psychologically, it means something; so let us just say (to the press) 'we will work it out', And if you want to do that, then we will go back to the negotiation table with Jared and Luis. And I am sure they can work something out that is good for both nations..."

But, of course, Mexico won't pay for Donald Trump's border wall.

President Enrique Peña Nieto: "But it is an unthinkable that I cannot ignore this because we find this completely unacceptable for Mexicans to pay for the wall.."

Conversation with Australian Prime Minister Turnbull

Turnbull, a member of Australia’s conservative Liberal Party, took over as prime minister in 2015. During the phone call, Trump and Turnbull discussed an Obama-era agreement in which the United States would vet and take refugees who were imprisoned after trying to enter Australia, by boat.

Trump tells Turnbull that accepting the refugees “will make us look awfully bad.

Donald Trump: "This is exactly what we have done with the program to bring in 12,000 Syrian refugees, 90% of which will be Christians. It will be quite deliberate and the position I have taken – I have been very open about it – is that it is a tragic fact of life that when the situation in the Middle East settles down – the people that are going to be most unlikely to have a continuing home are those Christian minorities. We have seen that in Iraq and so from our point of view, as a final destination for refugees, that is why we prioritize. It is not a sectarian thing. It is recognition of the practical political realities. We have a similar perspective in that respect.

"Well, actually I just called for a total ban on Syria and from many different countries from where there is terror, and extreme vetting for everyone else – and somebody told me yesterday that close to 2,000 people are coming who are really probably troublesome. And I am saying, boy that will make us look awfully bad. Here I am calling for a ban where I am not letting anybody in and we take 2,000 people. Really it looks like 2,000 people that Australia does not want and I do not blame you by the way, but the United States has become like a dumping ground. You know Malcom, anybody that has a problem – you remember the Mariel boat lift, where Castro let everyone out of prison and Jimmy Carter accepted them with open arms. These were brutal people. Nobody said Castro was stupid, but now what are we talking about is 2,000 people that are actually imprisoned and that would actually come into the United States. I heard about this – I have to say I love Australia; I love the people of Australia. I have so many friends from Australia, but I said – geez that is a big ask, especially in light of the fact that we are so heavily in favor, not in favor, but we have no choice but to stop things. We have to stop. We have allowed so many people into our country that should not be here. We have our San Bernardino’s, we have had the World Trade Center come down because of people that should not have been in our country, and now we are supposed to take 2,000. It sends such a bad signal. You have no idea. It is such a bad thing.

(Again, Prime Minister Turnball calls Donald Trump "Mr. President but this recognition isn't reciprocated. Instead, Donald Trump calls him "Malcolm".)

Can you hear me out Mr. President?

Prime Minister Malcolm Turbull of Australia

The obligation is for the United States to look and examine and take up to and only if they so choose – 1,250 to 2,000. Every individual is subject to your vetting. You can decide to take them or to not take them after vetting. You can decide to take 1,000 or 100. It is entirely up to you. The obligation is to only go through the process. So that is the first thing. Secondly, the people — none of these people are from the conflict zone. They are basically economic refugees from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. 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.

Donald Trump:  "This is going to kill me. I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country. And now I am agreeing to take 2,000 people and I agree I can vet them, but that puts me in a bad position. It makes me look so bad and I have only been here a week."

Malcolm Turnbull: "These guys are not in that league. They are economic refugees."

A detailed transcript, with side bar explanations, is available at this Washington Post site here.

Donald Trump's cruel immigration policies continue to be worse than Americans could've imagined when he harped about building a wall and Mexico would pay for it (not!).  Obviously, Syrian refugees aren't bringing drugs from Mexico into the US. 

Moreover, thousands of honest Mexicans cross the border with the US everyday, to work and participate in economic trade- they are not transporting drugs.  Donald Trump is hasty about punishing innocent people in his quest to show how "strong" he is on immigration; but his cruelty is harming millions of innocent people.