US President Donald Trump laid out his vision of a world order based on strong "sovereign nations" rather than multilateral alliances, in his first address to 72nd United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
"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," he said.
"America does more than speak for the values expressed in the United Nations charter," he said. "Our citizens have paid the ultimate price to defend our freedom and the freedom of many nations represented in this great hall."
Highlights of Trump's first address at United Nations General Assembly-
# President Donald Trump concludes his first address to the United Nations General Assembly, a speech of more than 40 minutes marked by tough talk for North Korea and Iran.
# President Donald Trump says the socialist government in Venezuela has brought a once-thriving nation to the “brink of collapse.” Trump accused its President Nicolas Maduro (nee-koh-LAHS’ mah-DOO’-roh) of stealing power from elected representatives to preserve his “disastrous rule.”
# The Venezuelan people are starving and their country is collapsing. The situation is completely unacceptable.
# Trump says his administration has imposed tough sanctions on the government and vowed further action. Trump also took aim at the “corruption and destabilizing regime” in Cuba. "Administration won’t lift US sanctions on the communist government until it makes fundamental reforms."
# Trump says he believes that trade must be fair and must be reciprocal. Trump has long argued that free trade deals have damaged the US economy and hurt US workers.
# Trump says the country’s middle class, which was once the bedrock of American prosperity, was forgotten and left behind. But he says that, under his presidency, “they are forgotten no more.” Trump also says he will continue to purse cooperation with other nations, but says his ultimate responsibility rests in taking care of his citizens.
# It is a massive source of embarrassment for the United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on the UN Human Rights Council. The panel’s 47 members include, for example, China and Saudi Arabia.
# President Trump calls Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government a “criminal regime.” The President says “no society can be safe if banned chemical weapons are allowed to spread.” He is calling for a peaceful solution that honors the will of the Syrian people.
# In Syria & Iraq we have made big gains towards lasting defeat of ISIS. We thank Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon for hosting refugees from Syria.
# Trump accuses Iran of supporting terrorists and threatening Israel. He also criticized a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that capped Tehran’s nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions.
# The world cannot allow the “murderous regime” to continue its destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles. Iranian government is an “economically depleted rogue state” whose chief export is violence.
# It is time to expose and hold responsible nations that provide funding and safe harbor to terror groups.
# We will stop radical Islamic terrorism, because we cannot allow it to tear up our nation and, indeed, to tear up the entire world. All responsible nations must work together to confront terrorists and “the Islamic extremist that inspires them.”
# Rouge regimes represented in the UN support terrorism and threaten global stability.
# 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.
# As long as I hold this office, I will defend American interests above all else.
# We meet at a time of both immense promise and great peril. We can take the world to new heights or watch it fall.
# As US President of USA, I will put America First; just like you, leaders of your countries should put your nations first.
# The United States will always be a great friend to the world and - especially - to its allies, but we cannot be taken advantage of.
# It’s up to 'Rocket Man' to decide whether US “will have to totally destroy North Korea.
# We want harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife.
# USA can no longer be taken advantage of, or enter into one-sided deals where the US gets nothing in return.
# North Korea's reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens entire world with immense loss of human life.
# Nobody has shown contempt to its people in a way that North Korea has.
# North Korea has threatened the world. And if we are pushed, the USA will destroy them.
# North Korea is on a suicide mission for its people and its regime.
# Terrorists and extremists have gathered strength and spread to every corner of the planet.
# We must reject threats to sovereignty from Ukraine to the South China Sea.
# the US military will be the strongest its ever been after $700B in defense spending.
# President Trump at the UN: “If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph.
