Trump blasts Iran, touts patriotism
President rejects ‘global governance’ in UN talk
NEW YORK – President Donald Trump blamed Iranian leaders for sowing “chaos, death and destruction” in a steely speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that stressed the president’s support of national sovereignty over globalism.
Touting his meeting this year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and blasting Iran for spreading mayhem in the Middle East, Trump offered an impassioned defense of a foreign policy doctrine he said would allow countries to reject “global governance.”
“We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism,” Trump said. “We will never surrender America’s sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy.”
Trump called the U.N. Human Rights Council “a grave embarrassment to this institution” and said the International Criminal Court “has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority.”
He touted some of his most divisive foreign policy decisions, including his crackdown on immigration and his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Trump wants allies at the United Nations to isolate Iran rather than try to salvage the 2015 nuclear agreement. The president described the nuclear deal as a “windfall” for Iranian leaders, accusing them of using eased sanctions in the agreement to fund terrorism.
Trump suggested he would sharply curtail U.S. foreign aid, saying he ordered a review by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of whether countries that receive American assistance are allies with shared values.
“We are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends,” Trump said. “And we expect other countries to pay their fair share for the cost of their defense.”
In an awkward moment, the delegates in the chamber laughed at a regular talking point from the president. Trump said his administration had accomplished more than any other in U.S. history, prompting the reaction from the General Assembly hall.
“So true,” Trump said. “I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s OK.”