Thanks to the phone transcript, Turnbull has been able to sort out his hang-ups

Malcolm Turnbull to Ben Fordham on Sydney’s 2GB on February 2:

The suggestion the President hung up is not correct. The call ended courteously.

And, for good measure, to Tom Elliott on Melbourne’s 3AW that day:

The call ended courteously.

And to John Laws on Sydney’s 2SM on February 3:

The call concluded courteously.

To Laurie Oakes on Nine’s 60 Minutes on February 5:

The call ended courteously.

Even during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 22:

It was alleged in that Washington Post article that he had hung up, that is absolutely not true. It was conducted courteously and ended courteously.

How it ended according to the detailed transcript in The Washington Post yesterday:

Trump: As far as I am concerned that is enough Malcolm. 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 (North Korea)?

Trump (inaudible): This is crazy.

Turnbull: Thank you for your commitment. It is very important to us.

Trump: It is important to you and it is embarrassing to me. It is an embarrassment to me, but at least I got you off the hook. So you put me back on the hook.

Turnbull: You can count on me. I will be there again and again.

Trump: I hope so. OK, thank you Malcolm.

Turnbull: OK, thank you.

(End of call.)

Donald Trump on Twitter on February 3:

Thank you to Prime Minister of Australia for telling the truth about our very civil conversation that FAKE NEWS media lied about. Very nice!

New admirer. David Graham in The Atlantic yesterday:

When Trump claims that he’ll be “killed” politically, Turnbull just dismisses it: “You will not.” And then he goes for the kill himself: He simply states flatly that Trump will stick to terms of the deal, whether he likes it or not. “You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it,” Turnbull declares. Trump is angry … But Turnbull doesn’t care. He’s gotten what he wanted.

New York magazine yesterday:

Australia’s Prime Minister Slowly Realises Trump Is a Complete Idiot.

Jonathan Chait under that headline:

The transcript of Donald Trump’s discussion with Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull reveals many things, but the most significant may be that Trump in his private negotiations is every bit as mentally limited as he appears to be in public. At issue in the conversation is a deal to settle 1250 refugees who have been detained by Australia in the US. I did not pay any attention to the details of this agreement before reading the transcript. By the time I was halfway through it, my brain could not stop screaming at Trump for his failure to understand what Turnbull was telling him. Australia has a policy of refusing to accept refugees who arrive by boat. The reason, as Turnbull patiently attempts to explain several times, is that it believes giving refuge to people who arrive by boat would encourage smuggling and create unsafe passage with a high risk of deaths at sea.

Back to the phone transcript:

Turnbull: 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 Nobel prize-winning genius, we will not let you in …

Trump: That is a good idea … You are worse than I am.

Turnbull: This is our experience.