US President Donald Trump thanks Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull for 'truth'

US President Donald Trump has identified the culprit for the blow-up with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull - fake news media.

Trump made the revelation in a Friday morning tweet. The president also had some kind words for Turnbull.

"Thank you to Prime Minister of Australia for telling the truth about our very civil conversation that FAKE NEWS media lied about," Trump wrote in the tweet. "Very nice!"

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It was the latest mixed message about the US-Australian relationship coming out of the White House since the weekend phone call.

While Turnbull has been careful with his words when quizzed by Australian media about the call, Trump has not been diplomatic.

Less than 24 hours earlier he gloated publicly about his "tough phone calls" with world leaders.

"It's time we have to be a little tough folks," Trump, generating laughter, told a Washington DC prayer breakfast audience of political and religious leaders.

Later in the day, he told a meeting with US steelworkers nations were "really terribly taking advantage of us" and then pointed to Australia.

The Trump administration and Turnbull were concerned enough about damage to the Australia-US alliance that Australian Ambassador Joe Hockey was dispatched to the White House on Thursday (Friday NZT) to meet with Trump's chief of staff Reince Priebus and senior adviser Steve Bannon.

The furore erupted on Wednesday (Thursday NZT) when the Washington Post reported Trump abruptly ended the planned hour call after 25 minutes.

The president's "fake news" tweet comes despite Trump administration officials confirming, off the record, the call was "confrontational".

Adding to the confusion, White House spokesman Sean Spicer described the call as "cordial".

The Post reported Trump told Turnbull he had spoken to four other world leaders earlier in the day, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that "this was the worst call by far".

Trump's anger comes from the asylum-seeker resettlement deal he inherited after Turnbull negotiated it with former president Barack Obama last year.

Trump described the deal as "dumb" in another tweet.

Trump, according to the Post, complained in the phone call with Turnbull that he was "going to get killed" politically because of the deal and accused Australia of seeking to export the "next Boston bombers".