Australia was forced to defend its military alliance with the US on Thursday after Donald Trump angrily criticised Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in a weekend phone conversation the US president called “the worst call by far” that he had held with a foreign leader that day.

During the 25-minute call on Sunday, Mr Trump described a bilateral agreement that requires the US to accept 1,250 refugees from Australia as the “worst deal ever” and accused Canberra of seeking to export the “next Boston bombers” to the US, according to a report in the Washington Post. Mr Trump then cut short the planned one-hour conversation.

After the Post revealed the heated exchange, Mr Trump tweeted he would “study this dumb deal!” Australian officials told the Financial Times that the Post report was an accurate account of the call, which has not been publicly denied by either Australian or US officials.