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This Article is From Sep 26, 2018

Trump's Defiant Defense Of His Foreign Policy Approach At United Nations

Donald Trump used an address to the U.N. General Assembly to warn that his administration will reject attempts from other nations to impose constraints on the United States.

Trump's Defiant Defense Of His Foreign Policy Approach At United Nations
Donald Trump delivered a 35-minute address at the United Nations General Assembly.
UNITED NATIONS:

Declaring the United States will "never apologize for protecting its citizens," President Donald Trump delivered a defiant defense Tuesday of a transactional world view that is increasingly at odds with consensus-driven international bodies such as the United Nations.

He used an address to the U.N. General Assembly to warn that his administration will reject attempts from other nations to impose constraints on the United States in areas including trade, immigration and security, while inviting other world leaders to do the same.

"America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control, and domination," Trump said in a 35-minute address delivered to a packed chamber. "I honor the right of every nation in this room to pursue its own customs, beliefs, and traditions. The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship. We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return."

Trump never uttered his campaign slogan of "America First," preferring the loftier term "sovereignty" for the same nationalist and protectionist reordering of American engagement in world affairs.

He wasted little time in declaring he has made progress on this agenda, but Trump's approach to foreign affairs has led to tensions at the international body - a dynamic that was on display in the first moments of the speech as Trump ran through a highlight reel of U.S. economic markers that echoed lines from his campaign rallies.

He boasted that he had made more progress than "almost any other administration in the history of our country" - prompting audible laughs in the cavernous U.N. chamber. A startled-looking Trump appeared thrown off-balance for a moment.

"I didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay," he said, and went on.

The United States was instrumental in founding the United Nations more than 70 years ago, hosts the world body and remains its largest single donor. But Trump has been a persistent critic and his close advisers including national security adviser John Bolton view it with skepticism, warning that the United States need not pay as much nor bend to collective decision-making.

Trump used his speech to issue a sharp warning to the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela and China over what he described as their rogue behavior. He was especially pointed in criticizing Iran, a theme he continued in informal remarks to reporters later in the day.

"Not going to happen," Trump said of any Iranian ambitions for influence and military control across the Middle East.

He cited his withdrawal from the U.N.-backed international nuclear deal with Tehran as a prime example of the new U.S. approach under his presidency. He also ticked through other retractions from the consensus view of most of the other member nations, including declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital and refusing to sign an international compact on migration.

The United States plans to reimpose additional sanctions on Iran in November as the last step in pulling out of the nuclear deal, which Trump long complained treated the United States unfairly.

Trump used his maiden appearance at the U.N. last year to rail against North Korea, including insulting leader Kim Jong Un as "Rocket Man." But he struck a far more optimistic tone this year, following a historic one-on-one meeting with Kim in June with a second summit tentatively planned for later this year.

Trump publicly thanked Kim for his "courage and the steps he has taken." He emphasized that Pyongyang has not tested a ballistic missile since the engagement process began early this year.

Asked later whether the same trajectory of tough talk and threats to warmer relations might be repeated with Iran, Trump said he was open to future talks on a different nuclear deal.

"I think that, at some point, they're going want to negotiate. I have said 'no,' so far," Trump said.

"It was me that said, 'no,' not them," he added, a reference to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's remark Monday that he would not meet with Trump in New York this week.

"I think that at some point we will have meaningful discussions and probably do a deal," Trump said. "I don't see how it works for them otherwise, because otherwise they're going to be in the worst economic trouble of any country anywhere in the world."

Trump had tweeted earlier Tuesday that he had no plans to see Rouhani now, adding he is "sure he is an absolutely lovely man"

When Rouhani took his own turn at the U.N. rostrum, he blasted expressions of "extreme nationalism and racism" that were clearly aimed at the U.S. president.

Trump was not in the chamber to hear Rouhani, instead helping to host an amiable lunch with other leaders where he observed that in his first appearance at the U.N. last year, "it was a little bit of a foreign territory to me, the United Nations. But now it's like home."

Referring to the bloody civil war in Syria during his address, Trump blamed the "corrupt dictatorship in Iran" for fueling the conflict through money and support for the Bashar al-Assad regime.

"They sow chaos, death and destruction," Trump said. "The United States is conducting a campaign of economic pressure to deny the regime the funds needed to advance their bloody agenda."

On Venezuela, Trump denounced the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro, whose oppressive leadership has resulted in a collapse of the nation's economy and a massive human rights crisis as hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have fled the country.

Trump announced new U.S. sanctions on Maduro and his inner circle.

"Virtually everywhere socialism and communism has been tried, it has led to corruption and decay," Trump said. He called on the world to "resist socialism and the misery it brings to everyone."

A Washington Post-ABC poll in July, just after Trump was widely criticized for his performance during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, found that 47 percent of Americans thought Trump had weakened U.S. leadership in the world, and 30 percent thought he'd made it stronger.

Time and again, Trump returned to the theme of sovereignty during his speech. He cast his immigration and border policies as national security matters and said no one, the U.N. included, will dictate how the United States evaluates those decisions.

"We will not be governed by an international body that is unaccountable to our own citizens," Trump declared. He added that the only long-term solution to the migration crisis is to "help people build brighter futures in their own countries - make their countries great again."

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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