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Trump aims to make UN ‘great’ in debut address
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From left: National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, US Vice President Mike Pence, US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, take their seats with others for a dinner with Latin American and US leaders at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 18, 2017 in New York City. (Agence France -Presse/Brendan Smialowski)
T
uesday will bring a steady flow of big speeches at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where world leaders will lay out their visions for humanity and address global crises from North Korea to Venezuela.
President Donald Trump plans a speech that will take North Korea and Iran to task, as well as countries he believes are enabling their nuclear and missile programs. Don’t expect a new “Axis of Evil’’ moment; the catchphrase for Trump will be “principled realism.”
Trump is just one of 37 leaders at the podium Tuesday. Middle East relations and the war in Syria will be in the spotlight as the heads of Qatar, Jordan, Turkey and Israel lay out their priorities. On the sidelines, French President Emmanuel Macron will present his case for the Paris climate change accord, which Trump has vowed to quit.
But all eyes will be on the US president, back in the city where his fortune was made. Trump has put the UN on notice, vowing to cut US contributions and challenging the global body to prove its value. Reprising a campaign slogan, Trump said “The main message is ‘make the United Nations great.’ Not again. Just ‘make the United Nations great.’’
Trump is also expected to call on world leaders to confront North Korea and Iran in his address, seeking a broad alliance against the two countries his administration considers the world’s gravest threats.
With his remarks, Trump will emphasize that the peril posed by North Korean and Iranian weapons programs is too great for any country to remain on the sidelines, according to two US officials who previewed themes of the address on Monday.
They declined to say what actions Trump will seek against either nation, nor would they say whether Trump plans to single out China or Russia as enablers of either state.
The president, who has already declared provocations by North Korea will be met with “fire and fury,” will communicate the depth of his determination to challenge both nations, the officials said. Trump sees the speech as a moment of enormous opportunity to rally the world to rein in North Korea and Iran’s weapons programs.
