Turnbull made the speech at the Midwinter Ball fundraiser hosted by the media at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday night.

Both the prime minister and opposition leader traditionally give off the record speeches, where they joke about politicians and the press.

Audio of Turnbull's speech, leaked to Nine's political editor Laurie Oakes, shows the prime minister doing an unflattering impression of the US president.

"The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls," Turnbull joked.

"We are winning so much. We are winning like we have never won before. We are winning in the polls, we are."

He added: "Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They're the ones we're not winning in. We're winning in the real polls. You know, the online polls. They are so easy to win. I know that, did you know that? I kind of know that. They are so easy to win. I have this Russian guy. Believe me it's true. It is true."

Turnbull also joked about the pair's famously frosty first phone call when Trump reportedly hung up on the PM. Trump described it as the "the worst call by far" he had made after becoming president.

"It was beautiful," Turnbull said of the pair's first face to face meeting, in New York. "It was the most beautiful putting-me-at-ease ever."

During the May meeting Trump praised Australia's universal health system Medicare, saying it was better than what the US had to offer.



Trump has previously accused Turnbull of attempting to export "the next Boston bombers" to America through the refugee swap deal negotiated by president Obama. The US president described the agreement, which would see the US take in 1,200 refugees from Australia's offshore detention centres, as "the worst deal ever".