Refugee resettlement deal between Australia and United States 'will continue'

The deal sparked an “angry” phone call between Donald Trump and his Australian counterpart, Malcolm Turnball

Julie Bishop (EPA)

A controversial refugee resettlement deal between Australia and the United States will go ahead, according to the Australian Foreign Minister.

Julie Bishop said both countries were working through the details but the agreement would be honoured by Donald Trump’s administration.

The deal sparked a reportedly “angry” phone call between Mr Trump and his Australian counterpart, Malcolm Turnbull.

"The agreement is to be honoured by the Trump administration (so) I'm pleased this agreement will continue," Ms Bishop told reporters in Western Australia.

"We remain in contact with the Trump administration and our embassy in Washington is also working with U.S. officials and we expect that vetting process would be as tough as Australia's vetting process in terms of health and security checks," she added.

Ms Bishop also added that she believes "interviewing and vetting is still taking place", without providing any further details.

The deal was agreed in the final months of Barack Obama’s presidency and states that the US would take up to 1,250 asylum seekers. In return, Australia would take refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Mr Trump took to social media to describe the agreement as “dumb” and it had previously been reported that US officials had stopped second-round interviews with refugees currently at an Australian camp on the Pacific island of Nauru after his executive order curbing immigration.