In his first address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump affirmed the U.S. commitment to the United Nations’ founding principles, called on all nations to stand together to confront rogue regimes, and emphasized the importance of national sovereignty.
“Making a better life for our people also requires us to work together in close harmony and unity to create a more safe and peaceful future for all people,” he told the world leaders gathered in New York. “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.”
“It is time for all nations to work together to isolate the Kim regime until it ceases its hostile behavior.”
The gravest threat to peace is “the depraved regime in North Korea” seeking to arm itself with nuclear arms and missiles, Trump said. “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.”
“Hopefully, this will not be necessary. … That’s what the United Nations is for,” the president said. “It is time for North Korea to realize that the denuclearization is its only acceptable future.”
Trump also urged “the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction.” The regime in Tehran 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,” he said.
“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?”
Trump accused Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, of destroying “a prosperous nation by imposing a failed ideology that has produced poverty and misery everywhere it has been tried.”
The president began his speech saying he was proud to be in his home city, addressing the international community.
“For more than 70 years, in times of war and peace, the leaders of nations, movements and religions have stood before this assembly,” he said. He called this “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.”
ShareAmerica writer Christopher Connell contributed to this article.