US President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull in the Oval Office on January 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. [Photo/IC]

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he reached out to the ambassador Thursday to the US to express "unwavering support for the US-Australia alliance." Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said he also spoke with the ambassador to reiterate America's "deep and abiding commitment to Australia."Details of Trump's call were first reported by The Washington Post, which said the president called the refugee agreement "the worst deal ever" and accused Turnbull of seeking to export the "next Boston bombers" — a reference to brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who were born in Kyrgyzstan. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a US citizen; Tamerlan Tsarnaev, killed in a shootout with police several days after the April 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon, had sought citizenship but had not had his application granted.

Trump, in a speech Thursday, appeared to acknowledge the tense phone call, as well as tough talk in an earlier call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

"Believe me. When you hear about the tough phone calls I'm having, don't worry about it. Just don't worry about it," he said at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. "They're tough. We have to be tough. It's time we're going to be a little tough folks. We're being taken advantage of by every nation in the world virtually.""I can assure you the relationship is very strong," Turnbull said. "The fact we received the assurance that we did, the fact that it was confirmed, the very extensive engagement we have with the new administration underlines the closeness of the alliance. But as Australians know me very well: I stand up for Australia in every forum — public or private."The Trump-Turnbull call took place a day after Trump signed an executive order suspending the admission of refugees. During the call, Trump complained that he was "going to get killed" politically by the refugee deal with Australia, according to the Post, citing anonymous officials.

"I don't want these people," Trump reportedly said. Trump also told Turnbull that he had spoken to four world leaders that day and that: "This is the worst call by far."Trump told Turnbull that it was "my intention" to honor the agreement, a phrase designed to leave the president wriggle room to back out of the deal, the newspaper reported.

There have been mixed messages from Washington all week on the state of the agreement.

A White House statement sent to Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday said: "The president is still considering whether or not he will move forward with this deal at this time."The State Department said in a statement later that the United States would honor the agreement "out of respect for close ties to our Australian ally and friend.""President Trump's decision to honor the refugee agreement has not changed and spokesman Spicer's comments stand," the State Department said.