Australian golfing great Greg Norman has shed light the key role he played introducing Malcolm Turnbull and Donald Trump.
As the two leaders prepare to meet in Washington this week, Mr Norman has described an unusual request he received soon after Mr Trump won the 2016 US election.
"The ambassador Joe Hockey, who's a good friend of mine, reached out to me and said that the prime minister would like to reach out to President Trump and congratulate him, and do you have his cell phone number," he told the ABC's 7.30 program on Monday night.
"It's as simple as that."
Norman, who played golf with Mr Trump quite a few times before he entered the White House, said he doesn't ordinarily give out telephone numbers.
"But considering it was for the prime minister to call the president of the United States, I thought that would be the right thing to do," Norman said.
"And fortunately it has turned out to be an incredible relationship."
The legendary sportsman said relations between Mr Turnbull and Mr Trump had "started off a little bit rocky" but were now "extremely strong".
Norman said while some members of the public loved what Mr Trump was doing and others hated it, there was no doubt the US president has "got stars and stripes flowing through his blood."
He said Mr Trump had improved in recent months, and people should wait for things to "flush out a little bit" before making assessments and judgements on his presidency.
"I truly believe he's very, very passionate about making this country a better, stronger place, and not only just domestically but look what he's doing around the world," Norman said.
"Some people like it, some people don't like it, but at the end of the day if his number one priority is to make America a safer place, then God bless him quite honestly."
Norman is part of a business delegation meeting in Washington to coincide with Mr Turnbull's visit to the White House.
Australian Associated Press
