Pence: U.S. to honor refugee deal with Australia
The United States will honor an Obama-era agreement with Australia to help resettle refugees, despite the Trump administration not favoring the arrangement, Vice President Mike Pence announced Saturday.
“President Trump has made it clear that we’ll honor the agreement — that doesn’t mean we admire the agreement,” Pence said during a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney, according to the Associated Press.
Up to 1,250 refugees housed in Australian detention camps on Nauru and Papua New Guinea would come to the U.S. under the agreement made with President Barack Obama.
Within the first 10 days as president, Trump had a tense phone call with Turnbull about the agreement. He followed up the phone call with a tweet several days later where he called the deal “dumb.”
Turnbull, however, said during Saturday’s press conference that “whatever the reservations of the president are,” the decision “speaks volumes for the commitment, the integrity of President Trump, and your administration, sir, to honor that commitment.”
The disagreement with the deal has strained Australia’s and the United State’s comfortable relationship, with the majority of Australians having a negative view of Trump. In addition, Australia has been pressured to favor stronger ties with China over the U.S., to which Turnbull has resisted.
During Saturday’s press conference, Pence and Turnbull also both shared the opinion that China was key in helping de-escalated the nuclear threat from North Korea. Following meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, Trump has repeatedly touted the relationship with China to help rein in North Korea.