Donald Trump says call with Australian PM was civil

Donald Trump targeted few US media houses for publishing fake transcript of his phone call with PM of Australia Malcom Turnbull.

Washington, Feb 3: President Donald Trump on Friday targeted some US media houses by calling them "Fake News" after the Washington Post published transcript of his telephonic conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull.

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

According to the Washington Post transcript, published on Saturday, Trump blasted Turnbull over the refu­gee agreement and called the deal as "dumb". Trump also said that his phone call with Turnbull "was the worst call by far".

The Australian Prime Minister on Friday described his phone conversation with Trump as "very frank", the media reported. Trump had earlier called the CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post as "fake news" and "dishonest".

The President made attacks on the media a cornerstone of his campaign and has continued the assault them as President. Several members of Trump's staff, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, chief counsel Kellyanne Conway and chief of staff Reince Preibus have joined the attacks in interviews given to various news outlets since the President took office.

IANS