In his first address to the UN General Assembly, President Donald Trump Tuesday sought international cooperation against terrorism, and warned of dire consequences for North Korea in the wake of Pyongyang’s highly provocative missile and nuclear tests.
Trump used the global forum to lay out his administration’s tough policy approach to dealing with threats including North Korean provocations, Iranian policies and terrorism.
He criticized the Iran nuclear deal, and threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea while calling the regime’s leader Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man.”
“We will stop radical Islamic terrorism, because we cannot allow it to tear up our nation and, indeed, to tear up the entire world,” Trump declared, repeating an expression criticized in Muslim world for suggestions of a link between terrorism and Islam.
At the same time, Trump recalled that he was honored to address a gathering of Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia a few months ago.
“We must deny the terrorists safe haven, transit, funding, and any form of support for their vile and sinister ideology. We must drive them out of our nations. It is time to expose and hold responsible those countries who support and finance terror groups like al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Taliban and others that slaughter innocent people.
“The United States and our allies are working together throughout the Middle East to crush the loser terrorists and stop the reemergence of safe havens they use to launch attacks on all of our people.
Trump spoke weeks after unveiling a new war strategy for Afghanistan.
“Last month I announced a new strategy for victory in the fight against this evil in Afghanistan. From now on, our security interests will dictate the length and scope of military operation, not arbitrary benchmarks and timetables set up by politicians,” he said.
“I have also totally changed the rules of engagement in our fight against the Taliban, and other terrorist groups.”
Trump, who last month angered Pakistan for singling out Afghan Taliban safe havens on its soil, did not name any country backing the Taliban, who according to U.S. officials are backed by several countries including Russia, Iran and Pakistan for a variety of reasons.
Trump also made no mention of India in his 30-minute address.
He told the gathering of heads of state and government that the world faces “great peril” from gathering threats posed by rogue regimes with powerful weapons and terrorists with expanding reach across the globe.
“We meet at a time of immense promise and great peril,” the president emphasized.
“It is up to us whether we will lift the world to new heights or let it fall into a valley of disrepair.”
Trump also vowed to “put America first just like you, the leaders of your countries, should put your countries first.”
Referring to North Korea and Iran, and he said, “The scourge of our planet is a group of rogue regimes.”
He praised the U.N. for coming up with economic sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
“We will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump said, before calling Kim by a nickname he gave him on Twitter over the weekend. “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself.”
“If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph.”
Trump termed the U.N.-backed Iran nuclear deal “an embarrassment” to the United States and hinted that his administration could soon declare Tehran out of compliance.
He criticized Iran for its support of terrorism in the Middle East.
Regarding U.S. support for the United Nations, Trump said his administration would back the world body toward realizing its goals of pursuing peace, but also criticized the organization, and its member nations for failing to accomplish the goals since its founding more than 70 years ago.
“We do not expect diverse countries to share the same cultures, values or systems of government,” he said. “But we do expect all nations to uphold their core sovereignty and respect the interests of their own people and rights of every other sovereign nation. This is the beautiful vision of this institution and the foundation for cooperation and success.”
The UN General Assembly is meeting amid emergence of new threats and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Africa. Chinese and Russian presidents are not attending the forum, which annually brings together hundreds of world leaders to spell out their policies and hold diplomatic consultations on the way forward on the pressing issues facing their countries.
