‘You are worse than I am’: Donald Trump’s first call to Malcom Turnbull revealed in leaked transcript

Donald Trump reportedly told Malcolm Turnbull he had "had it" with the prime minister in a tense post-election call, according to a new transcript.

The Washington Post obtained the transcript of the January 28 call between Mr Turnbull and Mr Trump days after the US President’s inauguration.

The call starts out pleasant with Mr Turnbull noting the pair have similar backgrounds as businessmen turned politicians and Mr Trump asking after mutual acquaintance, Greg Norman.

But things quickly turned sour as Mr Turnbull talks about an agreement struck with Barack Obama for the US to accept refugees from Manus Island and Nauru.

Mr Trump initially expresses admiration for Australia’s policy of refusing refugees the right to land on Australian shores, saying it "is a good idea. We should do that too."

He also tells Mr Turnbull "you are worse than I am" in an apparent compliment over the hard line stance.

However, Mr Trump starts getting angry at the thought of having to take Australia’s refugees.

"I hate taking these people," Mr Trump said.

"I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people."

"There is nothing more important in business or politics than a deal is a deal," Mr Turnbull said.

"You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it."

Mr Trump describes himself at one point as "the world’s greatest person who does not want to let people into the country".

"You have brokered many a stupid deal in business and I respect you but I guarantee that you broke many a stupid deal," Mr Trump reportedly told Mr Turnbull.

"This is a stupid deal ... this deal will make me look terrible.”

Mr Trump angrily suggested the refugees could "become the Boston Bomber in five years."

"I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal that I would have never made," Mr Trump said. "As far as I am concerned, that is enough, Malcolm. I have had it."

Mr Trump told Mr Turnbull he wasn’t enjoying the call.

"Putin was a pleasant call," Mr Trump said. "This is ridiculous."

Mr Turnbull tried to talk about Syria but Mr Trump cut the call short 24 minutes after it started.

"You can count on me," Mr Turnbull said. "I will be there again and again."

"I hope so," Mr Trump said before saying thank you and hanging up.

It comes as Mr Trump tweeted that relations between Washington and Moscow had hit an all-time and "very dangerous" low after he approved sanctions against Russia passed by Congress.

"Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.

"You can thank Congress, the same people that can’t even give us HCare!", he added in reference to a recent defeat in the Senate on his health reform plans.

Yesterday, Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev posted inflammatory statements to social media in response to the passing of tough new sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow for interfering with the 2016 US election.

The President reluctantly signed the sanctions into law overnight after the US Congress passed the motion by a margin Mr Trump could not overrule.

"It ends hopes for improving our relations with the new US administration," Mr Medvedev states, targeting Mr Trump’s repeated assertions that he wishes to do exactly that.

"Second, it’s a declaration of a full-fledged economic war on Russia," he adds.

But Mr Medvedev’s sting was in an attack on the US democratic process -- and Mr Trump’s ego.

"The Trump administration has shown its total weakness by handing over executive power to Congress in the most humiliating way. This changes the power balance in US political circles."

"The US establishment fully outwitted Trump; The President is not happy about the new sanctions, yet he could not but sign the bill."

Mr Medvedev states the move was a "way to knock Trump down a peg".

"New steps are to come, and they will ultimately aim to remove him from power."

Two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are moving to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s job, putting forth new legislation that aims to ensure the integrity of current and future independent investigations.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware plan to introduce the legislation today.

The bill would allow any special counsel for the Department of Justice to challenge his or her removal in court, with a review by a three-judge panel within 14 days of the challenge.

The bill would be retroactive to May 17, 2017 -- the day Mr Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties to Mr Trump’s campaign.

"It is critical that special counsels have the independence and resources they need to lead investigations," Sen. Tillis said in a statement. "A back-end judicial review process to prevent unmerited removals of special counsels not only helps to ensure their investigatory independence, but also reaffirms our nation’s system of check and balances."

Mr Mueller was appointed as special counsel following Mr Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Mr Mueller, who was Comey’s predecessor as FBI director, has assembled a team of prosecutors and lawyers with experience in financial fraud, national security and organised crime to investigate contacts between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

Mr Trump has been critical of Mr Mueller since his appointment, and the president’s legal team is looking into potential conflicts surrounding the team Mr Mueller has hired, including the backgrounds of members and political contributions by some members to Hillary Clinton.

He has also publicly warned Mr Mueller that he would be out of bounds if he dug into the Trump family’s finances.

Mr Mueller has strong support on Capitol Hill. Senators in both parties have expressed concerns that Mr Trump may try to fire Mr Mueller and have warned him not to do so.

"Ensuring that the special counsel cannot be removed improperly is critical to the integrity of his investigation," Sen. Coons said.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, another member of the Judiciary panel, said last week that he was working on a similar bill that would prevent the firing of a special counsel without judicial review.

Sen. Graham said then that firing Mr Mueller "would precipitate a firestorm that would be unprecedented in proportions."

The Tillis and Coons bill would allow review after the special counsel had been dismissed.

If the panel found there was no good cause for the counsel’s removal, the person would be immediately reinstated.

n addition, only the Attorney-General or the most senior Justice Department official in charge of the matter could fire the special counsel.

In the case of the current investigation, Rosenstein is charged with Mr Mueller’s fate because Attorney-General Jeff Sessions recused himself from all matters having to do with the Trump-Russia investigation.