President Trump began his first speech before the U.N. General Assembly with a somber nod to the institutionâs idealistic founding âin the aftermath of two world wars.â Then he threatened to start another one, with North Korea.Trump commandeered the U.N. General Assembly stage in New York on Tuesday, giving a 41-minute barn-burner that sounded more like a collection of his best weekend tweets than a formal announcement of a new American foreign policy doctrine.In fact, any discernible Trump doctrine was hard to find. In its place was a list of complaints.Trump began his speech by touting American economic successes and boasting about American military prowess.âIt has just been announced that we will be spending almost $700 billion on our military and defense,â Trump said, his voice getting louder as if he were expecting applause. âOur military will soon be the strongest it has ever been.ââIn fact, our country has achieved more against ISIS in the last eight months than it has in many, many years combined,â Trump said, though it wasnât exactly clear what the achievements were and what âmany yearsâ meant, considering the U.S. has only officially been at war with the Islamic State group since 2014.Trump then urged world leaders to strengthen their own countries above others and shore up for the possibility of conflict.âI will always put America first, just like you, the leaders of your countries, should put your countries first,â Trump said.Sounding eerily like the speech George W. Bush gave in 2001 when he declared his War on Terror, Trump then turned to the reliable platitudes of good and evil.âIf the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph,â Trump said. âWhen decent people and nations become bystanders to history, the forces of destruction only gather power and strength.âCalling Pyongyang âdepravedâ and âtwisted,â Trump threatened the outright destruction of North Korea â home to some 25 million people â after the hermit kingdomâs recent ramp-up of missile tests.Trump soon turned his attention to Iran, calling the Rouhani government âa corrupt dictatorship,â âa depleted rogue state,â and âa murderous regime.âTrump also chastised the Iranian nuclear deal, complaining the U.S. had gotten the worse end of the bargain.âThe Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into,â Trump said. âFrankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I donât think youâve heard the last of it. Believe me.âTrumpâs comments exacerbate existing speculation that the landmark deal â one his own secretary of state supports â is on the brink of collapse.Franceâs foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned against letting the deal end and urged all parties hold up their part of the agreement. âItâs essential to maintain it to prevent a spiral of proliferation that would encourage hard-liners in Iran to pursue nuclear weapons,â Le Drian told reporters Tuesday.Soon after calling the U.S. âa compassionate nation,â Trump defended his stance on curbing the number of refugees allowed to enter the U.S., saying the U.S. could do more with its money by settling them in nearby countries.âFor the cost of resettling one refugee in the United States, we can assist more than 10 in their home region,â Trump said.âOut of the goodness of our hearts, we offer financial assistance to hosting countries in the region and we support recent agreements of the G-20 nations that will seek to host refugees as close to their home countries as possible,â Trump added.The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump administration officials had rejected an internal study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found refugees created $63 billion in government revenue over the last 10 years. The report starkly undermines the administrationâs justification for a refugee cap, which is based on claims that refugees drain government resources.Human rights and global aid were side notes in Trumpâs speech, with the U.S. president mainly using the topics as a platform to celebrate American success, or decry the failure of the U.N.âThe United States continues to lead the world in humanitarian assistance, including famine prevention and relief, in South Sudan, Somalia, and northern Nigeria and Yemen.âBut Trump also used the issue of human rights failures to ding at the institution he was addressing, saying the U.N. had been hijacked by âstates that seek to subvert this institutionâs noble end.ââFor example,â Trump said, âit is a massive source of embarrassment to the United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on the UN Human Rights Council.âTrumpâs 2018 budget proposal slashes civilian international affairs funding by 31 percent, directly reducing American contributions to the UN, the World Bank, and global aid programs.Having spoken about aid and the billions of dollars the U.S. gives to the UN, Trump complained the U.S. was taking a disproportionate share of the burden and that countries should take a âgreater roleâ in securing their regions.âWe pay far more than anybody realizes,â Trump said. âThe United States bears an unfair cost burden, but to be fair, if it could actually accomplish all of its stated goals, especially the goal of peace, this investment would easily be well worth it.â
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Trump lambasted his predecessorâs landmark Iran nuclear deal as an âembarrassment to the United States;â railed against Islamic extremism; warned of âinternational criminal networks,â drugs and âmass migrationâ threatening âour borders;â and offered little in the way of shared values or dedication to human rights.More often than not, the speech, given before an institution founded on shared values and alliances, signaled American isolation over international leadership.âThe success of the United Nations depends upon the independent strength of its members,â Trump said pointedly. âOur success depends on a coalition of strong and independent nations that embrace their sovereignty, to promote security, prosperity, and peace, for themselves and for the world.â
Below are the major takeaways from Trumpâs big, anti-U.N. speech before the U.N.
America First
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North Korea
âThe United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,â Trump said. âRocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.â
Iran
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Refugee crisis
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