Trump slams Turnbull as ‘weak and ineffective’ before call on tariffs

Washington: US President Donald Trump has lashed former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in a late-night social media post just as he is poised to decide whether to exempt Australia from tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

Trump was scathing of Turnbull on his Truth Social, a social media platform owned by the president, on Sunday evening (Monday AEDT).

“Malcolm Turnbull, the former prime minister of Australia who was always leading that wonderful country from ‘behind’, never understood what was going on in China, nor did he have the capacity to do so,” Trump wrote.

“I always thought he was a weak and ineffective leader and, obviously, Australian’s [sic] agreed with me.”

Turnbull had just appeared on Bloomberg television in the US, speaking about the planned tariffs and arguing Trump was playing into China’s hands.

In his Bloomberg appearance, Turnbull said Trump’s on-again-off-again tariff threats were “bad for business” and could drive the US into recession.

“Trump seems to have a view that America can prosper at the expense of everyone else, but that’s not going to work,” he said.

Turnbull also said Trump “wasn’t really prepared” to govern in his first term because he didn’t expect to win the 2016 election but was much more determined now and was surrounded by loyalists who would implement his agenda.

Asked to respond to Trump’s social media barb, Turnbull said: “I’m a quivering leaf.”