CANBERRA (June 15): Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull risks a fresh rift with Donald Trump after leaked footage showed him parodying the president and alluding to a US probe into election campaign links with Russia.

In a closed-door speech Wednesday night to journalists and lawmakers at Australia’s equivalent of the White House correspondents dinner, Turnbull imitated Trump speaking about online opinion polls: “They are so easy to win. I have this Russian guy...believe me, it’s true, it’s true.”

While journalists were told the speech was not for reporting, a local television network broadcast audio portions on Thursday of Turnbull’s comments to the backdrop of audience laughter.

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