So, the Australian Refugee Deal with America Might Not Be A Thing Anymore (Trump Still Undecided)

At the moment there’s—pretty much—total uncertainty over whether the refugee resettlement deal struck with the U.S. will even go ahead.

According to reports from the ABC, the U.S. White House has backtracked on a promise to honour a refugee deal with Australia, saying President Donald Trump is still considering whether it will go ahead.

Earlier today, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters the deal would be going ahead, provided the refugees were subjected to “extreme vetting” protocols. Shortly after his announcement, a White House source told the ABC that if the deal is honoured, it will only be because of America’s “longstanding relationship with Australia”.

White House @PressSec tells me Aus-US refugee deal will go ahead subject to 'extreme vetting' @abcnews

— Zoe Daniel (@zdaniel) January 31, 2017

It seems there have been conflicting reports of whether or not the deal will actually go ahead.

“We’ve just had a call from a different person at the White House, not Sean Spicer but another spokesperson wanting to clarify… the President himself is still considering whether to actually go ahead with the deal, has not fully decided whether to do that,” said ABC correspondent Zoe Daniel.

White House now says the President is STILL CONSIDERING whether to go ahead with the refugee deal @zdaniel on @BreakfastNews now with latest

— Stephanie March (@steph_march) January 31, 2017

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made a “one off” deal with the U.S. in November last year, during former President Barack Obama’s administration. The deal sought to resettle approximately 1,250 refugees who are currently in indefinite detention on Manus Island and Nauru.

Most of the refugees are from majority Muslim nations covered by Trump’s executive order travel ban, including Iran, Iraq and Somalia.

Authorities had hoped to begin moving people over to the U.S. at the start of this year.

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