Time to speak out

For an ostensibly isolationist president who distrusts international bodies and puts the slogan “America First” at the heart of his doctrine, addressing the United Nations General Assembly cannot be the most comfortable of experiences.

But Donald Trump gave a characteristically bombastic performance in his maiden speech at the UN in New York, denouncing the Left-wing governments in Cuba and Venezuela for the economic misery they have inflicted on their people.

His strongest words were reserved for North Korea and Iran, two of the countries identified by George W Bush in his Axis of Evil speech to Congress in 2002 for developing the weapons of mass destruction that both are now close to possessing. Mr Trump said North Korea would have to be “totally destroyed” if it attacked America, though Washington wanted co-operation and dialogue. He is often criticised for using intemperate language when it comes to North Korea and he did not disappoint, calling Kim Jong-un “Rocket Man”, but he is having to deal with the reality that past presidents predicted, yet did nothing to stop.

He also castigated the “murderous regime” in Tehran for exporting terrorism around the Middle East and called the nuclear deal negotiated by Barack Obama an “embarrassment”. Mr Trump’s speech was met with near silence and criticised by other UN leaders. But the UN has huffed and puffed over the years about human rights while ignoring the behaviour of despotic regimes, even when they pose a threat to world peace. Instead of attacking Mr Trump, his fellow leaders at the UN should examine their own shortcomings.