On Thursday, The Washington Post released full, unedited White House transcripts of a phone call made between President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, as well as one with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The calls, made early in Trump’s administration, offer a revealing look at a man both aggressively out of his depth in terms of policy, and wildly dismissive of the promises he’d made—and the people to whom he’d made them—in order to reach the White House. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in Trump’s January 27 call with Peña Nieto, where, inevitably, the conversation falls to the President’s favorite topic: the wall with Mexico.
Here are just a few of the craziest parts [highlighting from the Post]:
Trump insists that Mexico’s just gotta pay for the wall.
Trump threatens to go home and pout if he doesn’t get his way.
He really, really needs Peña Nieto to be cool.
Besides, the wall isn’t actually a big deal, anyway
But, it’ll look good.
...And speaking of walls that everybody loves and are definitely not problematic whatsoever.
About those 15,000 hires...
Actually, just this week the Department of Homeland Security said that number was still more of a goal than a reality. Not that that’s stopped the president from presenting it as an existing fact way back in January.
If only the press would stop asking about my repeated promises!
Trump loves beautiful words and wishes he could say them.
The full transcript of Trump’s call with Peña Nieto, as well as Australian PM Turnbull, can be found at the Washington Post.