Donald Trump called one of Australia’s richest men a “red-headed weirdo”, hours after shocking new reports from Down Under saw new allegations about the ex-president’s willingness to discuss sensitive national security issues with a relative stranger.
According to a joint investigation by 60 Minutes Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Trump told Anthony Pratt about phone conversations with foreign leaders, including a conversation with the president of Iraq, shortly after US forces bombed Iranian-backed terrorists in the country before news came about the mission hit the news.
‘He said. “I just bombed Iraq today. And the president of Iraq called me and said, ‘You just leveled my city.’ And I said to him, ‘Okay, what are you going to do about it?'” Pratt can be heard telling someone in the new recording.
Pratt, a billionaire who made his money from packaging, also said Trump spoke openly about the infamous conversation he had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019 that led to Trump’s first impeachment trial.
Earlier this month, it emerged that Trump had told Pratt about refining US nuclear submarines in the hope of selling the ships to the Australian government. Pratt then repeated this information to about 45 people.
In response to the latest reports, Trump turned to his social networking platform TruthSocial.
Donald Trump is accused in new reports of discussing national security issues with Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, the pair are pictured together in 2019
In response to the reports, Trump called Anthony Pratt, one of Australia’s richest people, a ‘red-headed weirdo’
“The Failing New York Times story, leaked by the deranged Jack Smith and the Biden ‘Political Opponent Abuser’ DOJ, about a red-headed weirdo from Australia named Anthony Pratt is fake news,” Trump wrote.
“I never talked to him about submarines, but I did talk to him about creating jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania because that’s what I care about: JOBS, A GREAT ECONOMY, LOW TAXES, NO INFLATION, ENERGY DOMINANCE, STRONG BORDERS, NO ENDLESS WARS, LOW INTEREST RATE, and much more!’
“Maggie Hagerman and the Misfits never asked me for comment. Why would they, they just write what they want. Whether it’s right or not is of ZERO importance to them. “All the news that can’t be printed.” That’s why we call it Fake News!,” he added.
Speaking about the Zelensky call, Pratt said: ‘Trump said, ‘You know that Ukrainian phone call? That was nothing compared to what I usually do.” He said, “That call in Ukraine is nothing compared to what we usually talk about.”
Pratt has already been interviewed by federal prosecutors in connection with his claims about Trump’s openness.
In a statement to The New York Times, Trump said of Pratt: “I don’t know him well, but he seemed like a nice person.”
In a statement from his campaign, a spokesperson said the recordings “lack proper context and relevant information.”
Pratt complimented Trump’s style in other recordings, calling him a “mafioso” with “incredible balls,” adding that the former Apprentice host “knows exactly what to say and what not to say so he can go to jail avoids.’
In a bizarre exchange, Pratt said Trump said he wanted Melania to walk around in a bikini so others could see what they were missing.
Trump pictured with Anthony Pratt and then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Pratt factory in Wapakoneta, Ohio
Pratt speaks with then-US Vice President Mike Pence and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, pictured at the White House in September 2019
The meeting between Pratt and Trump took place here, at Mar-a-Lago, in April 2021
“It’s not all some seat-of-the-pants s***, I think him and Rudy (Giuliani) are planning all this.
‘He just says whatever he wants. And he likes to shock people,” Pratt added.
In another bizarre exchange, Pratt said he heard Trump ask Melania Trump to walk around in a bikini “so all the other guys could see what they were missing.”
She replied, “I will if you walk around with me in a bikini.”
Pratt also said he tried to pay Rudy Giuliani $1 million so the former New York City mayor could appear at his birthday party in Australia.
Giuliani was unable to travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but now he “calls” Pratt every week.
It was previously reported that Trump told Pratt how many nuclear warheads US submarines could carry and how close they could get to Russian ships undetected. Three of those to whom this information was passed were former Australian Prime Ministers.
Pratt started in the United States in 1991 as manager of a money-losing paper mill in Macon, Georgia. But Pratt Industries has grown to 71 locations in 25 states and now says it is the fifth-largest U.S. manufacturer of corrugated packaging.
Pratt Industries says it is the largest Australian-owned US employer and says it is investing $5 billion in US facilities over the next decade. The company is completing construction of a new $400 million paper mill in Henderson, Kentucky, its sixth in the United States.
Pratt has placed an emphasis on making boxes with less material, specializing boxes based on customer needs and making small batches of custom printed boxes.
The company could qualify for $2.5 million in state tax credits, at $4,000 per job over five years, as long as employees earn at least $31,300 a year. The company could qualify for other incentives, including property tax breaks from Warner Robins and Peach County.