In a freewheeling telephonic conversation with his Mexican counterpart, United States President Donald Trump boasted about his election victory and called New Hampshire a "drug-infested den".
Trump even pressured Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to remain quiet about the U.S.-Mexico border wall, according to the transcript as revealed by the Washington Post.
The January 27 phone call with Peña Nieto came seven days after Trump entered office.
In it, he focussed mainly on issues of trade and immigration, with his insistence that Mexico will eventually pay for a wall along with U.S. southern border.
"You cannot say that to the press," Trump said on the phone call.
"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."
On the same day, Trump carried out a phone conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which grew sour when Trump rejected an agreement to take in refugees.
"I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day," Trump told Turnbull. "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous."
Trump later ended the phone call abruptly.
Trump ran for office promising to build a Mexican-funded wall along the southern border. But since taking office, Trump has said that the U.S. will pay for initial construction, with reimbursement from Mexico coming later.
Over the course of their conversation, Trump referred to his Mexican counterpart by his first name, and repeatedly raised his electoral victory, insisting he had a mandate to crack down on illegal immigration and take on drug trafficking.
He ascribed his win in New Hampshire's presidential primary to a tough-on-crime stance, calling the state a "drug-infested den."
The transcript also confirmed reports from earlier this year that Trump and Turnbull held a contentious phone call, centering around refugees, that the U.S. President ended abruptly.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
