Insults, ‘America 1st’ vow at UN
for the eventual construction of the nuclear program,” Trump said, drawing applause from the assembly. “Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States. And I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it, believe me.”
But Trump did not, as expected, definitively declare his decision on the deal’s future. Under its terms, Trump faces an Oct. 15 deadline for deciding whether the U.S. will continue to honor the agreement.
Trump also condemned the creeping autocratic rule of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has been cracking down on opposition while failing to turn the country around from an unprecedented financial collapse.
Trump said he was ready to “take further action” against Maduro if Venezuela’s democracy continues to crumble, though he did not outline a plan. Trump has previously suggested a “military option” to control Maduro’s strongman rule. Trump’s tone stood in stark contrast to his noninterventionist rhetoric on the campaign trail, where he played down any intention to meddle in the troubles of foreign governments. Even with his tough talk about American action, Trump still encouraged other countries to follow the nationalist agenda he advocates. “I will always put America first. Just like you, as the leaders of your countries, will always and should always put your countries first,” Trump said, again earning applause. Trump’s speech sparked wildly UN divided reactions from leaders.
“In over 30 years in my experience with the UN, I never heard a bolder or more courageous speech,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Trump ally, said on Twitter.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza called the address “racist and supremacist” and a “return to the Cold War.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told NBC if Trump backed out of the nuclear agreement, “no one will trust America again.”
Former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wasn’t impressed.
“I thought it was very dark, dangerous, not the kind of message that the leader of the greatest nation in the world should be delivering,” she told Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show.” political