 The leak of conversations between the US president and the leaders of Mexico and Australia may well be a cry for help from within the administration 
 
 One of the most significant aspects of the published transcripts of Donald Trump’s conversations with his Mexican and Australian counterparts is the fact they were leaked. (The Washington Post) 
 
 President Trump is obsessed with this election win, thinks New Hampshire is a “drug-infested den,” worries about looking like “a dope” and doesn't want to talk publicly about who is going to pay for the wall. White House leaks: transcripts show extent of Trump's inconsistencies Read more 
 
 Perhaps the least surprising upshot of the release of the transcripts is the confirmation that the president and his administration deliberately misled the public about them. Speaking to the president of Mexico, Trump claims he won the state of New Hampshire because it is a “drug-infested den.” Trump won the state’s Republican primary, but lost New Hampshire in 2016, and that quote will not help him do better in 2020. Because the problem with the people — 
 
 At this point, Trump fails to understand the policy altogether, and proceeds to congratulate Turnbull for what Trump mistakes to be a draconian policy of total exclusion: 
 
 Trump: That is a good idea. The transcript of Donald Trump’s discussion with Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull obtained by the Washington Post reveals many things, but the most significant may be that Trump in his private negotiations is every bit as mentally limited as he appears to be in public. The whole point of these phone calls, days after Trump was inaugurated, was for the two leaders to get to know each other and start things off on the best possible note. Trump steamrolled that objective when he compared his conversation with the Australian prime minister, leader of one of America's staunchest allies, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had just meddled in the U.S. election, and deemed Putin more pleasant. As opposed to you saying, 'We will not pay' and me saying, 'We will not pay.'" Then Trump returns to his belief that they are bad, and failing to understand the concept that they have been detained merely because they arrived by sea and not because they committed a crime: 
 
 Trump: I hate taking these people. I guarantee you they are bad,” he said. They are basically — Trump: Well, maybe you should let them out of prison. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people.” 
 
 Turnbull attempted to appeal to Trump’s experience as a businessman. “It makes me look so bad, and I have only been here a week.” 
 
 The fact that the refugees in question are from Muslim countries is the key for Trump. Here, the divisive issue is an agreement that the Obama administration struck with Australia to consider accepting 1,250 refugees, mostly from Muslim countries, being detained by Australia on Pacific islands after trying to enter the country by boat. “You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it.” 
 
 Trump said that he was concerned that one of the refugees would “become the Boston bomber in five years.” 
 
 “I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal that I would have never made,” Trump added. I understand the community, and they understand me, and I have a great respect for the Mexican people. After Turnbull has told Trump several times that the refugees have been detained because they arrived by boat, and only for that reason, Trump’s question is, “But they are arrived on a boat?” 
 
 Soon after, Turnbull again reiterates that Australia’s policy is to detain any refugee who arrives by boat: 
 
 Turnbull: The only people that we do not take are people who come by boa. Why do you discriminate against boats?" “So we said if you try to come to Australia by boat, even if we think you are the best person in the world, even if you are a Nobel Prize winning genius, we will not let you in,” Turnbull finally says. "Really, it looks like 2,000 people that Australia does not want and I do not blame you by the way, but the United States has become like a dumping ground."
– The transcripts of President Trump's conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia leaked to the Washington Post are giving Americans insight into Trump's negotiating style and how he's relating to America's allies, but David Frum at the Atlantic writes the leak of the transcripts is "unprecedented, shocking, and dangerous." Frum says it's vital foreign leaders know they can speak freely with Trump without their words getting out. "No leader will again speak candidly on the phone to Washington, DC—at least for the duration of this presidency, and perhaps for longer," Frum writes. He says the leaks are evidence of the "cycle of self-destruction" Trump has started in which his misconduct spurs misconduct from the opposition. Here's what else you need to know about the leaked transcripts: The transcripts show Trump continues to lie to the public, the Guardian reports. For example, he accused accounts of his contentious phone call with Australia's Malcolm Turnbull of being "FAKE NEWS," claiming the conversation was "very civil." The transcripts show it was anything but. Meanwhile, Splinter has used bits and pieces of the transcripts to compose a "beautiful, agonizing love letter": "Your words are so beautiful. Those are beautiful words and I do not think I can speak that beautifully." In addition to being angry over the leak itself, Trump is certain to be upset the transcript of his conversation with Mexico's Enrique Peña Nieto shows him admitting the border wall is about politics, not security, the Daily Caller reports. Trump asks Peña Nieto to stop saying Mexico won't pay for the wall—even if it's true—because it's making Trump look bad. The Washington Post lists eight "jaw-dropping" lines from the transcripts, including Trump claiming refugees in Australia are criminals who won't "go on to work for the local milk people" and telling Turnbull theirs was the "most unpleasant call." Need more? The Week has 21 "eye-popping" lines, including telling Peña Nieto, "It is you and I against the world, Enrique, do not forget." Trump also tells Peña Nieto "Your citizens are being killed all over the place, your police officers are being shot in the head, and your children are being killed." During his conversation with Peña Nieto, Trump called New Hampshire a "drug-infested den." NBC News reports this didn't go over well in New Hampshire, where the state's Democratic senators called the comment "disgusting" and "unacceptable" and its Republican governor said Trump was "wrong." Finally, Trump's conversation with Turnbull shows he's either unwilling or unable to comprehend the facts around the 1,250 refugees the US agreed to accept from Australia, Jonathan Chait writes for New York. Trump misstates the number of refugees multiple times, repeatedly and incorrectly calls them criminals, and eventually gets frustrated, asking Turnbull, "What is the thing with the boats?"