President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday. In his speech, he
focused on the threat posed by North Korea, and on Iran’s government and
the Iran nuclear deal.
Trump referred to North Korean leader Kim Jung Un as
“rocket man,” and described him as being on “a suicide mission for
himself and for his regime.” He also threatened to “totally destroy”
North Korea if the US finds itself “forced to defend itself or its
allies.”
On Iran, Trump demanded that “Iran's government must stop
supporting terrorists, begin serving its own people, and respect the
sovereign rights of its neighbors.” He also criticized the Iran nuclear
deal, calling it, characteristically, “one of the worst and most
one-sided transactions” and “an embarrassment.”
Mr. Secretary General, Mr. President, world leaders, and
distinguished delegates, welcome to New York. It is a profound honor to
stand here in my home city as a representative of the American people to
address the people of the world. As millions of our citizens continue
to suffer the effects of the devastating hurricanes that have struck our
country, I want to begin by expressing my appreciation to every leader
in this room who has offered assistance and aid. The American people are
strong and resilient, and they will emerge from these hardships more
determined than ever before.
Fortunately, the United States has done very well since
Election Day last November 8. The stock market is at an all-time high, a
record. Unemployment is at its lowest level in 16 years, and because of
our regulatory and other reforms, we have more people working in the
United States today than ever before. Companies are moving back,
creating job growth, the likes of which our country has not seen in a
very long time, and it has just been announced that we will be spending
almost $700 billion on our military and defense. Our military will soon
be the strongest it has ever been. For more than 70 years, in times of
war and peace, the leaders of nations, movements, and religions have
stood before this assembly.
Like them, I intend to address some of the very serious
threats before us today, but also the enormous potential waiting to be
unleashed. We live in a time of extraordinary opportunity. Breakthroughs
in science, technology, and medicine are curing illnesses and solving
problems that prior generations thought impossible to solve. But each
day also brings news of growing dangers that threaten everything we
cherish and value. Terrorists and extremists have gathered strength and
spread to every region of the planet. Rogue regimes represented in this
body not only support terror but threaten other nations and their own
people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity.
Authority and authoritarian powers seek to collapse the
values, the systems, and alliances, that prevented conflict and tilted
the word toward freedom since World War II. International criminal
networks traffic drugs, weapons, people, force dislocation and mass
migration, threaten our borders and new forms of aggression exploit
technology to menace our citizens. To put it simply, we meet at a time
of both immense promise and great peril. It is entirely up to us whether
we lift the world to new heights or let it fall into a valley of
disrepair. We have it in our power, should we so choose, to lift
millions from poverty, to help our citizens realize their dreams, and to
ensure that new generations of children are raised free from violence,
hatred, and fear.
This institution was founded in the aftermath of two
world wars, to help shape this better future. It was based on the vision
that diverse nations could cooperate to protect their sovereignty,
preserve their security, and promote their prosperity. It was in the
same period exactly 70 years ago that the United States developed the
Marshall Plan to help restore Europe. Those these beautiful pillars,
they are pillars of peace, sovereignty, security, and prosperity. The
Marshall Plan was built on the noble idea that the whole world is safer
when nations are strong, independent, and free. As president, Truman
said in his message to congress at that time, our support of European
recovery is in full accord with our support of the United Nations.
The success of the United Nations depends upon the
independent strength of its members. To overcome the perils of the
present, and to achieve the promise of the future, we must begin with
the wisdom of the past. Our success depends on a coalition of strong and
independent nations that embrace their sovereignty, to promote
security, prosperity, and peace, for themselves and for the world. We do
not expect diverse countries to share the same cultures, traditions, or
even systems of government, but we do expect all nations to uphold
these two core sovereign duties, to respect the interests of their own
people and the rights of every other sovereign nation.
This is the beautiful vision of this institution, and
this is the foundation for cooperation and success. Strong sovereign
nations let diverse countries with different values, different cultures,
and different dreams not just coexist, but work side by side on the
basis of mutual respect. Strong sovereign nations let their people take
ownership of the future and control their own destiny. And strong
sovereign nations allow individuals to flourish in the fullness of the
life intended by God. In America, we do not seek to impose our way of
life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to
watch.
This week gives our country a special reason to take
pride in that example. We are celebrating the 230th anniversary of our
beloved Constitution, the oldest constitution still in use in the world
today. This timeless document has been the foundation of peace,
prosperity, and freedom for the Americans and for countless millions
around the globe whose own countries have found inspiration in its
respect for human nature, human dignity, and the rule of law. The
greatest in the united States Constitution is its first three beautiful
words. They are "We the people." Generations of Americans have
sacrificed to maintain the promise of those words, the promise of our
country and of our great history.
In America, the people govern, the people rule, and the
people are sovereign. I was elected not to take power, but to give power
to the American people where it belongs. In foreign affairs, we are
renewing this founding principle of sovereignty. Our government's first
duty is to its people, to our citizens, to serve their needs, to ensure
their safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values. As
president of the United States, I will always put America first. Just
like you, as the leaders of your countries, will always and should
always put your countries first.
All responsible leaders have an obligation to serve their
own citizens, and the nation state remains the best vehicle for
elevating the human condition. But making a better life for our people
also requires us to with work together in close harmony and unity, to
create a more safe and peaceful future for all people.
The United States will forever be a great friend to the
world and especially to its allies. But we can no longer be taken
advantage of or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets
nothing in return. As long as I hold this office, I will defend
America's interests above all else, but in fulfilling our obligations to
our nations, we also realize that it's in everyone's interests to seek
the future where all nations can be sovereign, prosperous, and secure.
America does more than speak for the values expressed in
the United Nations charter. Our citizens have paid the ultimate price to
defend our freedom and the freedom of many nations represented in this
great hall. America's devotion is measured on the battlefields where our
young men and women have fought and sacrificed alongside of our allies.
From the beaches of Europe to the deserts of the Middle East to the
jungles of Asia, it is an eternal credit to the American character that
even after we and our allies emerge victorious from the bloodiest war in
history, we did not seek territorial expansion or attempt to oppose and
impose our way of life on others. Instead, we helped build institutions
such as this one to defend the sovereignty, security, and prosperity
for all. For the diverse nations of the world, this is our hope.
We want harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife.
We are guided by outcomes, not ideologies. We have a policy of
principled realism, rooted in shared goal, interests, and values. That
realism forces us to confront the question facing every leader and
nation in this room, it is a question we cannot escape or avoid. We will
slide down the path of complacency, numb to the challenges, threats,
and even wars that we face, or do we have enough strength and pride to
confront those dangers today so that our citizens can enjoy peace and
prosperity tomorrow.
If we desire to lift up our citizens, if we aspire to the
approval of history, then we must fulfill our sovereign duties to the
people we faithfully represent. We must protect our nations, their
interests and their futures. We must reject threats to sovereignty from
the Ukraine to the South China Sea. We must uphold respect for law,
respect for borders, and respect for culture, and the peaceful
engagement these allow.
And just as the founders of this body intended, we must
work together and confront together those who threatens us with chaos,
turmoil, and terror. The score of our planet today is small regimes that
violate every principle that the United Nations is based. They respect
neither their own citizens nor the sovereign rights of their countries.
If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will
triumph. When decent people and nations become bystanders to history,
the forces of destruction only gather power and strength.
No one has shown more contempt for other nations and for
the well-being of their own people than the depraved regime in North
Korea. It is responsible for the starvation deaths of millions of North
Koreans. And for the imprisonment, torture, killing, and oppression of
countless more. We were all witness to the regime's deadly abuse when an
innocent American college student, Otto Warmbier, was returned to
America, only to die a few days later.
We saw it in the assassination of the dictator's brother,
using banned nerve agents in an international airport. We know it
kidnapped a sweet 13-year-old Japanese girl from a beach in her own
country, to enslave her as a language tutor for North Korea's spies. If
this is not twisted enough, now North Korea's reckless pursuit of
nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with
unthinkable loss of human life. It is an outrage that some nations would
not only trade with such a regime, but would arm, supply, and
financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear
conflict.
No nation on Earth has an interest in seeing this band of
criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles. The United
States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend
itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy
North Korea. Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his
regime. The United States is ready, willing, and able, but hopefully
this will not be necessary. That's what the United Nations is all about.
That's what the United Nations is for. Let's see how they do.
It is time for North Korea to realize that the
denuclearization is its only acceptable future. The United Nations
Security Council recently held two unanimous 15-0 votes adopting
hard-hitting resolutions against North Korea, and I want to thank China
and Russia for joining the vote to impose sanctions, along with all of
the other members of the Security Council. Thank you to all involved.
But we must do much more.
It is time for all nations to work together to isolate
the Kim regime until it ceases its hostile behavior. We face this
decision not only in North Korea; it is far past time for the nations of
the world to confront another reckless regime, one that speaks openly
of mass murder, vowing death to America, destruction to Israel, and ruin
for many leaders and nations in this room.
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. The
longest-suffering victims of Iran's leaders are, in fact, its own
people. Rather than use its resources to improve Iranian live, its oil
profits go to fund Hezbollah and other terrorists that kill innocent
Muslims and attack their peaceful Arab and Israeli neighbors.
This wealth, which rightly belongs to Iran's people, also
goes to shore up Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship, fuel Yemen's civil
war, and undermine peace throughout the entire Middle East. We cannot
let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while
building dangerous missiles, and we cannot abide by an agreement if it
provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program. The
Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the
United States has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an
embarrassment to the United States, and I don't think you've heard the
last of it. Believe me.
It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding
that Iran's government end its pursuit of death and destruction. It is
time for the regime to free all Americans and citizens of other nations
that they have unjustly detained. Above all, Iran's government must stop
supporting terrorists, begin serving its own people, and respect the
sovereign rights of its 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. This is what causes the regime to restrict internet
access, tear down satellite dishes, shoot unarmed student protesters,
and imprison political reformers.
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?
The Iranian regime's support for terror is in stark contrast to the
recent commitments of many of its neighbors to fight terrorism and halt
its finance, and in Saudi Arabia early last year, I was greatly honored
to address the leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations. We
agreed that all responsible nations must work together to confront
terrorists and the Islamic extremism that inspires them.
We will stop radical islamic terrorism because we cannot
allow it to tear up our nation and, indeed, to tear up the entire world.
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 nation. It is time to expose and hold responsible those
countries whose support and fi — 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. 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. I have also totally
changed the rules of engagement in our fight against the Taliban and
other terrorist groups.
In Syria and Iraq, we have made big gains toward lasting
defeat of ISIS. In fact, our country has achieved more against ISIS in
the last eight months than it has in many, many years combined. We seek
the deescalation of the Syrian conflict, and a political solution that
honors the will of the Syrian people. The actions of the criminal regime
of Bashar al-Assad, including the use of chemical weapons against his
own citizens, even innocent children, shock the conscience of every
decent person. No society could be safe if banned chemical weapons are
allowed to spread. That is why the United States carried out a missile
strike on the airbase that launched the attack.
We appreciate the efforts of the United Nations' agencies
that are providing vital humanitarian assistance in areas liberated
from ISIS, and we especially thank Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon for their
role in hosting refugees from the Syrian conflict. The United States is
a compassionate nation and has spent billions and billions of dollars
in helping to support this effort. We seek an approach to refugee
resettlement that is designed to help these horribly treated people and
which enables their eventual return to their home countries to be part
of the rebuilding process. For the cost of resettling one refugee in the
United States, we can assist more than 10 in their home region.
Out of the goodness of our hearts, we offer financial
assistance to hosting countries in the region and we support recent
agreements of the G20 nations that will seek to host refugees as close
to their home countries as possible. This is the safe, responsible, and
humanitarian approach. For decades the United States has dealt with
migration challenges here in the Western Hemisphere.
We have learned that over the long term, uncontrolled
migration is deeply unfair to both the sending and the receiving
countries. For the sending countries, it reduces domestic pressure to
pursue needed political and economic reform and drains them of the human
capital necessary to motivate and implement those reforms. For the
receiving countries, the substantial costs of uncontrolled migration are
born overwhelmingly by low-income citizens whose concerns are often
ignored by both media and government.
I want to salute the work of the United Nations in
seeking to address the problems that cause people to flee from their
home. The United Nations and African Union led peacekeeping missions to
have invaluable contributions in stabilizing conflict in Africa. The
United States continues to lead the world in humanitarian assistance,
including famine prevention and relief, in South Sudan, Somalia, and
northern Nigeria and Yemen.
We have invested in better health and opportunity all
over the world through programs like PEPFAR, which funds AIDS relief,
the President’s Malaria Initiative, the Global Health Security Agenda,
the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, and the Women Entrepreneur's
Finance Initiative, part of our commitment to empowering women all
across the globe.
We also thank — we also thank the secretary general for
recognizing that the United Nations must reform if it is to be an
effective partner in confronting threats to sovereignty, security, and
prosperity. Too often the focus of this organization has not been on
results, but on bureaucracy and process. In some cases, states that seek
to subvert this institution's noble end have hijacked the very systems
that are supposed to advance them. For example, it is a massive source
of embarrassment to the United Nations that some governments with
egregious human rights records sit on the UN Human Rights Council.
The United States is one out of 193 countries in the
United Nations, and yet we pay 22 percent of the entire budget and more.
In fact, we pay far more than anybody realizes. The United States bears
an unfair cost burden, but to be fair, if it could actually accomplish
all of its stated goals, especially the goal of peace, this investment
would easily be well worth it. Major portions of the world are in
conflict, and some, in fact, are going to hell, but the powerful people
in this room, under the guidance and auspices of the United Nations, can
solve many of these vicious and complex problems. The American people
hope that one day soon the United Nations can be a much more accountable
and effective advocate for human dignity and freedom around the world.
In the meantime, we believe that no nation should have to
bear a disproportionate share of the burden, militarily or financially.
Nations of the world must take a greater role in promoting secure and
prosperous societies in their own region. That is why in the Western
Hemisphere the United States has stood against the corrupt,
destabilizing regime in Cuba and embraced the enduring dream of the
Cuban people to live in freedom.
My administration recently announced that we will not
lift sanctions on the Cuban government until it makes fundamental
reforms. We have also imposed tough calibrated sanctions on the
socialist Maduro regime in Venezuela, which has brought a once thriving
nation to the brink of total collapse. The socialist dictatorship of
Nicolás Maduro has inflicted terrible pain and suffering on the good
people of that country.
This corrupt regime destroyed a prosperous nation —
prosperous nation, by imposing a failed ideology that has produced
poverty and misery everywhere it has been tried. To make matters worse,
Maduro has defied his own people, stealing power from their elected
representatives, to preserve his disastrous rule. The Venezuelan people
are starving, and their country is collapsing. Their democratic
institutions are being destroyed. The situation is completely
unacceptable, and we cannot stand by and watch.
As a responsible neighbor and friend, we and all others
have a goal — that goal is to help them regain their freedom, recover
their country, and restore their democracy. I would like to thank
leaders in this room for condemning the regime and providing vital
support to the Venezuelan people. The United States has taken important
steps to hold the regime accountable. We are prepared to take further
action if the government of Venezuela persists on its path to impose
authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan people.
We are fortunate to have incredibly strong and healthy
trade relationships with many of the Latin American countries gathered
here today. Our economic bond forms a critical foundation for advancing
peace and prosperity for all of our people and all of our neighbors. I
ask every country represented here today to be prepared to do more to
address this very real crisis. We call for the full restoration of
democracy and political freedoms in Venezuela. The problem in Venezuela
is not that socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism
has been faithfully implemented.
From the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true
socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish and
devastation and failure. Those who preach the tenets of these
discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the
people who live under these cruel systems. America stands with every
person living under a brutal regime. Our respect for sovereignty is also
a call for action. All people deserve a government that cares for their
safety, their interests, and their well-being, including their
prosperity. In America, we seek stronger ties of business and trade with
all nations of goodwill, but this trade must be fair and it must be
reciprocal.
For too long the American people were told that mammoth,
multinational trade deals, unaccountable international tribunals, and
powerful global bureaucracies were the best way to promote their
success. But as those promises flowed, millions of jobs vanished and
thousands of factories disappeared. Others gamed the system and broke
the rules, and our great middle class, once the bedrock of American
prosperity, was forgotten and left behind, but they are forgotten no
more and they will never be forgotten again.
While America will pursue cooperation and commerce with
other nations, we are renewing our commitment to the first duty of every
government, the duty of our citizens. This bond is the source of
America's strength and that of every responsible nation represented here
today. If this organization is to have any hope of successfully
confronting the challenges before us, it will depend, as President
Truman said some 70 years ago, on the independent strength of its
members. If we are to embrace the opportunities of the
future and overcome the present dangers together, there can be no
substantive for strong, sovereign, and independent nations, nations that
are rooted in the histories and invested in their destiny, nations that
seek allies to befriend, not enemies to conquer, and most important of
all, nations that are home to men and women who are willing to sacrifice
for their countries, their fellow citizens, and for all that is best in
the human spirit.
In remembering the great victory that led to this body's
founding, we must never forget that those heroes who fought against
evil, also fought for the nations that they love. Patriotism led the
Poles to die to save Poland, the French to fight for a free France, and
the Brits to stand strong for Britain. Today, if we do not invest
ourselves, our hearts, our minds, and our nations, if we will not build
strong families, safe communities, and healthy societies for ourselves,
no one can do it for us.
This is the ancient wish of every people and the deepest
yearning that lives inside every sacred soul. So let this be our
mission, and let this be our message to the world. We will fight
together, sacrifice together, and stand together for peace, for freedom,
for justice, for family, for humanity, and for the almighty God who
made us all. Thank you, God bless you, God bless the nations of the
world, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much.
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