CANBERRA - Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and US President Donald Trump "don't have to be best friends" when discussing regional issues in New York.

Speaking at Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday morning, Bishop said January's infamous phone call between the two leaders which Trump described as his "worst of the day" after Turnbull informed the president of a deal for the United States to take Australian refugees.

She said the leaders did not necessarily need to get along in order to strengthen ties between the two nations but it was likely that they would have "a lot in common".

"They don't have to be best friends, but of course they will be gracious toward each other," Bishop said ahead of Turnbull's arrival in New York on Thursday.

"(But) I have no doubt that the prime minister and President Trump will find a lot in common, I'm sure they'll get along well."

The phone call made worldwide press earlier in the year but Bishop said the US president was merely expressing his opinion about the deal which was struck with the previous Obama administration.

"It was a new administration. Briefings were coming from across the administration and there was a moment when the president expressed less than admiration for an agreement that the previous administration has entered into," Bishop said.

Turnbull is set to meet with the U.S. president on the decks of the USS Intrepid, a World War II-era aircraft carrier, which is now used as a floating museum as part of the 75th year commemorations of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

"The historic setting of the prime minister's meeting with President Trump is also very important," Bishop said.

Before leaving Australia for New York on Wednesday, Turnbull said the two leaders would be discussing a "wide range of security and economic issues".