UN laughs at Trump’s boasts

President’s address reveals somber, isolationist agenda

UNITED NATIONS — President Donald Trump had barely begun his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday when he claimed his tenure had “accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.”

Around the hall, diplomats and world leaders broke into laughter. “Didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s OK,” a startled Trump said. That prompted more guffaws and applause.

A year after Trump delivered a fiery speech here that left diplomats slack-jawed, many appeared to view him Tuesday as more theater than threat. They sat silent as he cited what he claimed as major achievements: the U.S. pullout from the Iran nuclear accord; his refusal to sign the Global Compact on migration; withdrawal from the U.N. Human Rights Council; and the U.S. Embassy’s move in Israel to Jerusalem.

Trump aimed his sharpest ire at Iran, blaming the Islamic Republic for spreading “mayhem across the Middle East” and beyond.

Trump devoted much of a somber, often isolationist, 35-minute address to promoting his America First agenda, and its emphasis on sovereignty in trade, security and international affairs. “We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism,” he said.

He also outlined the argument for his disruptive approach to foreign affairs, which has upended traditional diplomacy by discarding former U.S. policies.

Citing the dangers of illegal immigration and “uncontrolled migration,” Trump argued that each country should set its own policies in accordance with its national interest. “Ultimately, the only longterm solution to the migration crisis is to help people build more hopeful futures in their home countries. Make their countries great again,” he said.

Trump bore down on his pledge to curb and re-prioritize America’s foreign aid budget, complaining that helping poverty-stricken countries offered little benefit to U.S. interests.

“The United States is the world’s largest giver …, by far, of foreign aid. But few give anything to us,” he told the world body.

His suggestion to make foreign aid more transactional challenges the traditional U.S. role of trying to use so-called soft power to promote human rights and democracy, especially in fragile societies or those where U.S. interests are prominent.