US to honor Australia refugee deal Trump called ‘dumb’
US Vice President Mike Pence has announced Washington's readiness to honor a bilateral agreement between Australia and the United States concerning refugees landing in the country, unveiling further inconsistency in the Trump administration' policies.
During the presidential election campaign, Donald Trump had described a deal to accept the refugees from Australia as “dumb”.
According to a Washington Post report in February, Trump had blasted the bilateral refugee agreement between the Obama administration and Australia as "the worst deal ever”.
In a shift of policy, however, Pence said during his current visit to Sydney on Saturday that the Trump administration would stick with the agreement reached with the Obama administration.
“Let me make it clear the United States intends to honor the agreement,” Pence said.
Meanwhile, in another ironical move, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Scott Pruitt, conceded to global warming despite Trump’s repeated denial of climate change.
Trump had insisted during his campaign that climate change was a hoax aimed at weakening the US economy and industries.
Climate change phenomenon was “created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive.”
Analysts say the new president, who is a week away from his 100th day in office, has so far made no major legislative changes, showing inconsistency in his actions and pre-election promises.
Meanwhile, in related news, Pence met with Australia’s Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to discuss bilateral issues.
During his two-day visit to the country, Pence reassured Australian leaders that there would be no changes in the ties between the two countries and relations between Washington and Canberra would remain rock solid.
Pence's visit to Australia is regarded as a reconciliation move coming a few months after President Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive regional trade deal backed by Australia and other regional neighbors.
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