11 Takeaways From Trump’s Calls With Mexico And Australia (Spoiler Alert: Trump is Weak)

President Trump’s utter weakness and unwillingness to even try and make good on his campaign promises shine through in two revealing transcripts of his conversations with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull. In both conversations, Trump immediately drops his campaign rhetoric and resorts to begging the foreign leaders to not make him “look like a dope” in the press. If this is how Trump handled his private conversations with Vladimir Putin at the G20, there is no telling what he conceded to Russia and how it will endanger our national security.

“The President is in way over his head and his incompetence could result in serious national security consequences,” said Emily Aden, American Bridge Rapid Response Director. “He’s weak, he lacks the necessary leadership skills to do the job, and all he cares about is appeasing Russia.”

1. Trump Called New Hampshire A “Drug-Infested Den.” “Up in New Hampshire – I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den – is coming from the southern border.”

2. Trump Begged Pena Nieto Not To Say Publicly Mexico Won’t Pay For The Wall, Even Though He Knows Mexico Won’t Pay. “The only thing I will ask you though is on the wall, you and I both have a political problem. My people stand up and say, “Mexico will pay for the wall” and your people probably say something in a similar but slightly different language. But the fact is we are both in a little bit of a political bind because I have to have Mexico pay for the wall – I have to. I have been talking about it for a two year period, and the reason I say they are going to pay for the wall is because Mexico has made a fortune out of the stupidity of U.S. trade representatives. They are beating us at trade and they are beating us at the border, and they are killing us with drugs. Now I know you are not involved with that, but regardless of who is making all the money, billions and billions and billions – some people say more – is being made on drug trafficking that is coming through Mexico. Some people say that the business of drug trafficking is bigger than the business of taking our factory jobs. So what I would like to recommend is – if we are going to have continued dialogue – we will work out the wall. They are going to say, “who is going to pay for the wall, Mr. President?” to both of us, and we should both say, “we will work it out.” It will work out in the formula somehow. As opposed to you saying, “we will not pay” and me saying, “we will not pay.’”

3. Trump Begged Pena Nieto—Again—Not To Publicly State The Truth That Mexico Will Not Pay For The Wall. “We cannot say that anymore because if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that. I am willing to say that we will work it out, but that means it will come out in the wash and that is okay. But you cannot say anymore that the United States is going to pay for the wall. I am just going to say that we are working it out. Believe it or not, this is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important talk about.

4. Trump Begged Pena Nieto—A Third Time—Not To Publicly State The Truth That Mexico Will Not Pay For The Wall. “PENA NIETO: But my position has been and will continue to be very firm saying that Mexico cannot pay for that wall. TRUMP: But you cannot say that to the press. The press is going to go with that and I cannot live with that. You cannot say that to the press because I cannot negotiate under those circumstances.”

5. Trump Called A Border Tax—An Issue Likely To Divide The GOP In Upcoming Tax Reform Debate—The Best Economic Option For The United States. “And what I am talking about is not a good solution for Mexico – it is a great solution for the United States, which is a tariff on everything coming into our country. Now, that is the best solution economically for the United States, but I feel very strongly that it is important that as our neighbor, we have a strong relationship – the stronger the better.”

6. Trump Called The United States A “Dumping Ground.” 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.”

7. Trump Endorsed The Idea Of Banning Entry Into The United States By Anyone On A Boat. “TURNBULL: Okay, I will explain why. It is not because they are bad people. It is because in order to stop people smugglers, we had to deprive them of the product. So we said if you try to come to Australia by boat, even if we think you are the best person in the world, even if you are a Noble Prize winning genius, we will not let you in. Because the problem with the people… TRUMP: That is a good idea. We should do that too. You are worse than I am.”

8. Trump Begged Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull Not To Make Him Look Bad Over Refugees. “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.”

9. Trump Begged Turnbull—Again—Not To Make Him “Look Like A Dope.”“Okay, this shows me to be a dope. I am not like this but, if I have to do it, I will do it but I do not like this at all. I will be honest with you. Not even a little bit.”

10.  Trump Admitted He Will Look Like A “Weak And Ineffective Leader In My First Week.”  “TRUMP: Yes, I will be seen as a weak and ineffective leader in my first week by these people. This is a killer. TURNBULL: You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it.”

11. Trump Said His Call With Putin Was More Pleasant Than With Turnbull And Abruptly Ended The Conversation Before They Could Get To Syria And North Korea. “I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous. TURNBULL: Do you want to talk about Syria and DPRK? TRUMP: [inaudible] this is crazy. TURNBULL: Thank you for your commitment. It is very important to us.”