NEW YORK — President Trump told leaders from the 193 member states of the United Nations on Tuesday that they should focus first and foremost on the needs of their own countries, and he excoriated the aggression of North Korea and Iran in a speech that omitted direct criticism of Russia and China.
“As long as I hold this office, I will defend American interests above all else,” Trump said during a highly anticipated address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. “I will always put America first, just as you should put your countries first.”
Trump focused heavily on the theme of sovereignty in his roughly 45-minute speech at the UN headquarters in New York, arguing strengthening individual countries would ultimately lay the groundwork for stronger multilateral institutions.
“Strong sovereign nations let diverse nations with different values, different cultures and different dreams not just coexist, but work side by side on the strong basis of mutual respect,” Trump said. “All responsible leaders have an obligation to serve their own citizens and the nation state remains the best vehicle for elevating the human condition.”
In a forceful endorsement of nationalism around the world, Trump called for a “great reawakening of nations, for the revival of their spirits, their pride, their people and their patriotism.”
Trump argued the U.S. should not shoulder so much of the burden for funding the budget of an organzation that serves nearly 200 countries. He has taken a similar approach to NATO, when he argued earlier this year that member nations must contribute more to their own defenses in order to continue enjoying the protection of the U.S.
“Nations of the world must take a greater role in promoting secure and prosperous socieites in their own regions,” Trump said in his UN address.
The president went after North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela for human rights violations and threatening behavior, but he stopped short of calling out China and Russia by name for their own violations of other countries’ sovereignty.
“We must reject threats to sovereignty from the Ukraine to the South China Sea,” Trump said, referring to Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and China’s dispute of islands in the South China Sea.
On North Korea, Trump called on member states to do more to counter Pyongyang’s aggression, noting the North Korean threat is not just a regional threat but a global one.
“North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human life,” Trump said.
He argued “denuclearization” is the only path North Koreans can take out of their current situation, which has seen a rapid escalation of tensions between Pyongyang and Washington in recent weeks as North Korea continues to test nuclear weapons and missiles that could one day carry those weapons to the U.S.
Echoing a controversial tweet he posted over the weekend, Trump referred to North Korean dictator Kim Jon-Un as “Rocket Man,” and said Pyongyang will embark on a “suicide mission” if it continues to threaten the U.S.
Trump also sent perhaps the strongest signal yet that he may not recertify the Iran nuclear deal next month, when the State Department must inform Congress whether Tehran has remained compliant with the terms of the agreement.
The president described the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran deal is formally known, as an “embarassment” to the U.S. and said the world hasn’t yet “heard the last of” his thoughts on the future of the JCPOA. Some people close to Trump have suggested he is unlikely to recertify the deal, and have said that if he does, he will couple the recertification with strong measures that crack down on Iranian provocations that fall outside the JCPOA’s parameters.
Bypassing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whom the Obama administration billed as a moderate leader, Trump appealed directly to the people of Iran and highlighted their dissatisfaction with the direction of the country under Rouhani.
“The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos,” Trump said. “The longest suffering victims of Iran’s leaders are, in fact, its own people. Rather than use its resources to improve Iranian lives, its oil profits go to fund Hezbollah and other terrorists that kill innocent Muslims and attack their peaceful Arab and Israeli neighbors.”
“The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change, and other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most,” Trump continued.
“Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever and the day will come when the people will face a choice. Will they continue down the path of poverty, bloodshed and terror? Or will the Iranian people return to the nation’s proud roots as a center of civilization, culture and wealth where their people can be happy and prosperous once again?” he asked.
Trump also focused directly on people over elites and leaders when discussing refugee resettlement. Although Trump has taken fierce criticism for his efforts to limit America’s intake of refugees, particularly from Syria, he said Tuesday that migration policies often inflict the greatest cost on the poorest citizens of countries that accept large numbers of refugees.
“We seek an approach to refugee resettlement that is designed to help these horribly mistreated people, and which enables their eventual return to their home countries, to be part of the rebuilding process,” Trump said.
“For the cost of resettling one refugee in the United States, we can assist more than 10 in their home region,” he added.
Trump argued the “safe, responsible and humanitarian approach” is to allow refugees to find sanctuary “as close to their home countries as possible.”
“For the receiving countries, the substantial cost of uncontrolled migration are borne overwhelmingly by low-income citizens whose concerns are often ignored by both media and government,” Trump said.
A senior administration official had told reporters Monday evening that the speech would be “deeply philosophical” rather than tactical. The official said Trump wanted to convey the importance of sovereignty with his speech to the General Assembly, despite the seeming tension between the push for nations to focus on themselves at a venue where nations are encouraged to act collectively.
But Trump argued during his speech that the idea of nationalism and globalism are not necessarily contradictory, reaffirming the U.S. commitment to an organization he once described as “a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”
“The success of the United Nations depends on the independent strength of its members,” Trump said during his UN address. “This is the beautiful vision of this institution, and this is the foundation for cooperation and success.”
