Trump delivers defiant defense of foreign policy approach to skeptical UN audience
UNITED NATIONS — Declaring the United States will “never apologize for protecting its citizens,” President Donald Trump delivered a defiant defense Tuesday of a transactional world view that is increasingly at odds with consensus-driven international bodies such as the United Nations.
He used an address to the U.N. General Assembly to warn that his administration will reject attempts from other nations to impose constraints on the United States in areas including trade, immigration and security, while inviting other world leaders to do the same.
“America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control, and domination,” Trump said in a 35-minute address delivered to a packed chamber. “I honor the right of every nation in this room to pursue its own customs, beliefs, and traditions. The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship. We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return.”
Trump never uttered his campaign slogan of “America First,” preferring the loftier term “sovereignty” for the same nationalist and protectionist reordering of American engagement in world affairs.
He wasted little time in declaring he has made progress on this agenda, but Trump’s approach to foreign affairs has led to tensions at the international body – a dynamic that was on display in the first moments of the speech as Trump ran through a highlight reel of U.S. economic markers that
echoed lines from his campaign rallies.
He boasted that he had made more progress than “almost any other administration in the history of our country” – prompting audible laughs in the cavernous U.N. chamber. A startled-looking Trump appeared thrown off-balance for a moment.
“I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay,” he said, and went on.
The United States was instrumental in founding the United Nations more than 70 years ago, hosts the world body and remains its largest single donor. But Trump has been a persistent critic and his close advisers, including national security adviser John Bolton, view it with skepticism, warning that the United States need not pay as much nor bend to collective decision-making.
Trump used his speech to issue a sharp warning to the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela and China over what he described as their rogue behavior. He was especially pointed in criticizing Iran, a theme he continued in informal remarks to reporters later in the day.
“Not going to happen,” Trump said of any Iranian ambitions for influence and military control across the Middle East.
He cited his withdrawal from the U.N.-backed international nuclear deal with Tehran as a prime example of the new U.S. approach under his presidency. He also ticked through other retractions from the consensus view of most of the other member nations, including declaring Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and refusing to sign an international compact on migration.
The United States plans to reimpose additional sanctions on Iran in November as the last step in pulling out of the nuclear deal, which Trump long complained treated the United States unfairly.
Trump used his maiden appearance at the U.N. last year to rail against North Korea, including insulting leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man.” But he struck a far more optimistic tone this year, following a historic one-on-one meeting with Kim in June with a second summit tentatively planned for later this year.
Trump publicly thanked Kim for his “courage and the steps he has taken.” He emphasized that Pyongyang has not tested a ballistic missile since the engagement process began early this year.
Asked later whether the same trajectory of tough talk and threats to warmer relations might be repeated with Iran, Trump said he was open to future talks on a different nuclear deal. p
“I think that, at some point, they’re going want to negotiate. I have said ‘no,’ so far,” Trump said.
“It was me that said, ‘no,’ not them,” he added, a reference to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s remark Monday that he would not meet with Trump in New York this week.
“I think that at some point we will have meaningful discussions and probably do a deal,” Trump said. “I don’t see how it works for them otherwise, because otherwise they’re going to be in the worst economic trouble of any country anywhere in the world.”
Trump had tweeted earlier Tuesday that he had no plans to see Rouhani now, adding he is “sure he is an absolutely lovely man.”