Drew Angerer/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on a visit to New York City Thursday. The visit is part of the commemorations celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea in World War II.
Trump’s first in-person meeting with Turnbull comes after the two engaged in a heated phone call in late January in which the newly inaugurated president became upset over a deal between the countries for the U.S. to accept refugees for Australia. Trump tweeted in the aftermath that he would “study this dumb deal,” while Turnbull denied reports that he was hung up on.
Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
“The report that the president hung up is not correct. The call ended courteously,” Turnbull told a Sydney radio station. “And as far as the nature of the discussion, it was very frank and forthright. I stand up for Australia’s interests and make Australia’s case as powerfully and persuasively as I can wherever I am.”
The pair are scheduled to meet bilaterally and attend a commemorative dinner in honor of the battle aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, docked on the Hudson River. The black-tie gala will honor those who fought in the battle, celebrate the American-Australian relationship and establish an American-Australian Veterans’ Scholarship Fund.
The American Australian Association notes that the “critical” 1942 “battle that saved Australia” was the “first defeat suffered by the Empire of Japan and stopped the looming Japanese invasion of Australia.” The navies of the U.S. and Australia successfully cooperated to prevent an invasion of Japanese ships.
“The president looks forward to meeting the prime minister and to strengthening the enduring bonds, deep friendship and close alliance between the United States and Australia,” the White House said in a release last week.
In April, Vice President Mike Pence met with Turnbull as part of a trip through Asia and Australia. During the visit, the Australian prime minister pledged to continue the “intimate” relationship between the two countries and Pence conveyed Trump’s “best wishes” and his “congratulations for [Turnbull’s] strong leadership.”
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