Peter Dutton confirms Australian and US officials are on Nauru

PETER Dutton has confirmed Australian and US officials are on Nauru to look at individual cases of those held in immigration detention.

AUSTRALIAN and US officials are on Nauru to look at individual cases of those held in immigration detention but there’s a “long way to go” before any refugees may leave, says Peter Dutton.

The immigration minister’s comments come amid a report US officials have delayed interviews with detainees on Nauru in the wake of President Donald Trump’s comments around “extreme vetting” and immigration ban.

Detainees applying to settle in America under the refugee deal have reportedly had planned second-round interview dates with US officials postponed indefinitely.

Confusion around exactly what Donald Trump meant in saying the refugees would be subject to “extreme vetting” was the reason behind postponing the interviews, according to an unnamed source in the Reuters report.

Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton confirmed Australian and US officials are on Nauru. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Despite lingering uncertainty over whether America will honour the refugee resettlement deal with Australia, struck with the Obama administration, Mr Dutton said US officials had returned to Nauru as planned.

He said getting refugees out of detention in Nauru was “a difficult juggling act”.

“We are keen to get people off there as quickly as possible ... we’ve got unfinished business,” he told 2GB radio on Friday.

“There’s a long way to go before we can get people off.” He remains confident the US will honour the deal, which would see America take refugees currently held on Manus Island and Nauru in return for Australia accepting refugees from Central America.

“I take the president at his word. He has given a commitment to our prime minister,” Mr Dutton said.

WHITE HOUSE STRUGGLES WITH MR ‘TRUMBLE’

As Donald Trump tries to smooth things over with Malcolm Turnbull, after their explosive phone call, his press secretary Sean Spicer can’t seem to get the PM’s name right.

Mr Spicer slipped up in his news briefing calling Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Trumble, like he did a day earlier.

“They did have a very productive and engaging meeting. We have a tremendous amount of respect for the people of Australia, for Prime Minister Trumble (sic) ... we are going to continue to work through this. We are going to honour the commitments that were made in same way meaning we are going to continue vet these people in accordance with the agreement that was made.”

MORE: Trump tough on visas, softens on Turnbull

Malcolm Turnbull’s name is proving a tongue twister for White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Picture: AFP/ Brendan Smialowski

Mr Spicer also made a mistake when he said that Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon had met with the “prime minister”, before being corrected by the media who told him they had met with Joe Hockey.

But this isn’t the first time Mr Spicer has mispronounced Turnbull’s name.

Speaking at a White House briefing a day earlier about the contested refugee deal, Mr Spicer made numerous references to a mysterious “Mr Trumble” as he confirmed it would be going ahead.

“The President had a very cordial conversation with Prime Minister ‘Trumble’,” said Mr Spicer. “They went through an extensive discussion of this deal.

“The President is unbelievably disappointed in the previous administration’s deal that was made, and how poorly it was crafted, and the threat to national security it put the United States on.”

He said Mr Trump had “immense respect” for the Prime Minister.

“While he has respect for the Australian people, and respect for Prime Minister ‘Trumble’ ... the deal that was cut by the last administration is something he is extremely upset with.”

“Prime Minister Trumble” started trending on Twitter, after social media users immediately picked up on the perceived error.

Originally published as Peter Dutton confirms Australian and US officials are on Nauru