Hard truths told
Well, so much for quiet diplomacy — not that President Trump’s fire and brimstone speech to the United Nations came as much of a surprise.
It was, in the end, rather amusing to watch the gathering of do-nothing, self-important kleptocrats who dominate the General Assembly get an earful of pure, unadulterated Trump.
“If the righteous many don’t confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph,” he said, sounding more like an old-fashioned preacher than the leader of the free world.
But what he did make clear is that putting “America first” is far from the kind of neo-isolationism Trump often espoused on the campaign trail.
The view from the Oval Office seems to have changed his vision of America’s place in the world.
His first target, not unexpectedly, was North Korea.
“Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime,” Trump said of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, adding if the U.S. is “forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
And he wasn’t sparing in his criticism, albeit not by name, of China and Russia.
“It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime, but would arm, supply and financially support a country that imperils the world.”
He then lit into Iran and the nuclear deal he called an “embarrassment” and “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
And he hinted broadly that its days may be numbered.
“We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles,” he said. “And we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program.”
He also tackled by name the regime of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, calling for “the full restoration of democracy and political freedoms” in that now impoverished nation.
“The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has been faithfully implemented,” he added.
It was a bold speech to an outfit never noted for its boldness, but one which needed to hear some hard truths — and Trump delivered them.