Listen to Australia's prime minister imitate Donald Trump

Malcolm Turnbull says his imitation was the sincerest form of flattery and not mocking

Published June 15, 2017 10:29AM (EDT)

 (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Donald Trump loves parody. So for the president's 71st birthday on Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appropriately shouted out the two-time "Saturday Night Live" host.

In his speech during the off-the-record Canberra Ball — Australia's version of the White House correspondent's dinner — on Wednesday night, Turnbull was surreptitiously recorded imitating the president:

"The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much, we are winning, we are winning like we have never won before. We are winning in the polls. We are, we are. Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They’re the ones we’re not winning in.

“We’re winning in the real polls.

“You know, the online polls. They are so easy to win. I know that. Did you know that? I kind of know that. They are so easy to win. I have this Russian guy.

“Believe me it’s true, it’s true.”

Turnbull further joked of his May dinner with Trump in New York on the U.S.S. Intrepid to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea: "It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful putting-me-at-ease ever."

During a press conference after their New York meeting, Trump inadvertently praised Australia's universal healthcare system, telling Turnbull, "you (Australia) have better health care than we do."

Trump's first presidential phone call was to Turnbull, regarding an Obama-era refugee agreement — an accord which the president had bashed on his Twitter:

Trump reportedly hung up on Turnbull after a less-than-cordial debate. (Though Trump later told reporters they'd "exaggerated that call. That was a big exaggeration. We’re not babies.")

Turnbull told reporters on Wednesday that he wasn't mocking Trump.

"It was more good-natured than that," he said. "It’s a stressful business, politics, you’ve got to have fun."

Listen to the leaked audio here.


By Brendan Gauthier

Brendan Gauthier is a freelance writer.

MORE FROM Brendan Gauthier


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Donald Trump Malcolm Turnbull Saturday Night Live