Turnbull, whose relationship with Trump got off to a rocky start earlier this month, said the 45th American president should stop focusing on the media.

“A very great politician, Winston Churchill, once said that politicians complaining about the newspapers is like a sailor complaining about the sea,” Turnbull told reporters in New Zealand on Friday.

“There is not much point. That is the media we live with and we have to get our message across and we thank you all in the media for your kind attention,” he said.

Turnbull is speaking from experience as he faces a constant stream of questions from domestic media about his leadership, with opinion polls showing the popularity of his center-right government sinking to its lowest in more than a year.