A United Nations Speech Like No Other

 

Trump UN75President Trump took under eight minutes to state the United States position to world leaders and domestic and international audiences. He started with the reason the United Nations was formed 75 years ago, the end of the second world war in a half century. President Trump used military imagery to tie the UN’s purpose to the current global pandemic. Then he dropped the hammer on China. President Trump called on the UN to deal with real problems and pointed to real US leadership under his administration. He pointed to the remarkable peace deals resulting from his administration rejecting the tired old institutionalized expert formulas. He once again pointed to the obligation of every government to care first for its own citizens, and then to make agreements in the mutual interest of each nation’s people, not according to elite theories and interests.

President accused China and the World Health Organization of letting the virus out and lying at all the important points. when it could have been contained or its effect on populations limited. President Trump then detailed China’s offenses against the rest of the world as the leading polluter of the oceans and atmosphere. No one can doubt that the Chinese Communist Party dearly wants Joe Biden, Chuck and Nancy in charge of America next January, and is fully supportive of the Democrats’ subversive strategy of denying the legitimacy of any Republican victory.

This latest annual speech reflects both continuity and change. President Trump has consistently advocated for each nation to take care of its own people first, making only those deals that are mutually beneficial to the citizens of the nations involved. He has beat the drum for reform of international organizations, cleaning up corruption and incompetence by pointing them back to their founding purposes. What changed was a major shift against China, now being accused of being the world’s supervillain, and celebration of the sweet fruit of long labors in the Middle East.

Following this recorded address, President Trump went to Charlotte, North Carolina, to pitch the America First Healthcare Plan, while Vice President Pence spoke at a Made in America rally, celebrating revival of American manufacturing jobs. President Trump also leveraged the coincidence of Historic Black Colleges and University Week to announce, through Ambassador Robert O’Brien, a new epidemic preparedness research center with HBCUs in the lead.

The Administration’s intention is to establish the U.S.-Africa Institute for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, with principal roles for HBCU. The Administration looks forward to expanding partnerships and activities with a number of HBCU. Programs could further expand upon public health leadership training, telemedicine, data analytics, leadership in understanding and addressing social determinants of health, and cultural competencies, including addressing stigma and discrimination, community health, and community medicine.

I have reproduced the speech in full below and added headings and highlights. Here is the official government video:

Remarks by President Trump to the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
FOREIGN POLICY  Issued on: September 22, 2020
The White House

PRESIDENT TRUMP: It is my profound honor to address the United Nations General Assembly.

[China virus, COVID-19:]

Seventy-five years after the end of World War II and the founding of the United Nations, we are once again engaged in a great global struggle. We have waged a fierce battle against the invisible enemy — the China virus — which has claimed countless lives in 188 countries.

In the United States, we launched the most aggressive mobilization since the Second World War. We rapidly produced a record supply of ventilators, creating a surplus that allowed us to share them with friends and partners all around the globe. We pioneered life-saving treatments, reducing our fatality rate 85 percent since April.

Thanks to our efforts, three vaccines are in the final stage of clinical trials. We are mass-producing them in advance so they can be delivered immediately upon arrival.

We will distribute a vaccine, we will defeat the virus, we will end the pandemic, and we will enter a new era of unprecedented prosperity, cooperation, and peace.

[Communist China, Super Villain:]

As we pursue this bright future, we must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world: China.

In the earliest days of the virus, China locked down travel domestically while allowing flights to leave China and infect the world. China condemned my travel ban on their country, even as they cancelled domestic flights and locked citizens in their homes.

The Chinese government and the World Health Organization — which is virtually controlled by China — falsely declared that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Later, they falsely said people without symptoms would not spread the disease.

The United Nations must hold China accountable for their actions.

In addition, every year, China dumps millions and millions of tons of plastic and trash into the oceans, overfishes other countries’ waters, destroys vast swaths of coral reef, and emits more toxic mercury into the atmosphere than any country anywhere in the world. China’s carbon emissions are nearly twice what the U.S. has, and it’s rising fast. By contrast, after I withdrew from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord, last year America reduced its carbon emissions by more than any country in the agreement.

Those who attack America’s exceptional environmental record while ignoring China’s rampant pollution are not interested in the environment. They only want to punish America, and I will not stand for it.

[UN failure to focus on real problems, American leadership on real problems:]

If the United Nations is to be an effective organization, it must focus on the real problems of the world. This includes terrorism, the oppression of women, forced labor, drug trafficking, human and sex trafficking, religious persecution, and the ethnic cleansing of religious minorities.

America will always be a leader in human rights. My administration is advancing religious liberty, opportunity for women, the decriminalization of homosexuality, combatting human trafficking, and protecting unborn children.

We also know that American prosperity is the bedrock of freedom and security all over the world. In three short years, we built the greatest economy in history, and we are quickly doing it again. Our military has increased substantially in size. We spent $2.5 trillion over the last four years on our military. We have the most powerful military anywhere in the world, and it’s not even close.

[Forging and renewing real partnerships:]

We stood up to decades of China’s trade abuses. We revitalized the NATO Alliance, where other countries are now paying a much more fair share. We forged historic partnerships with Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to stop human smuggling. We are standing with the people of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela in their righteous struggle for freedom.

[Change in policy in the Middle East yields much better results:]

We withdrew from the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal and imposed crippling sanctions on the world’s leading state sponsor of terror. We obliterated the ISIS caliphate 100 percent; killed its founder and leader, al-Baghdadi; and eliminated the world’s top terrorist, Qasem Soleimani.

This month, we achieved a peace deal between Serbia and Kosovo. We reached a landmark breakthrough with two peace deals in the Middle East, after decades of no progress. Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain all signed a historic peace agreement in the White House, with many other Middle Eastern countries to come. They are coming fast, and they know it’s great for them and it’s great for the world.

These groundbreaking peace deals are the dawn of the new Middle East. By taking a different approach, we have achieved different outcomes — far superior outcomes. We took an approach, and the approach worked. We intend to deliver more peace agreements shortly, and I have never been more optimistic for the future of the region. There is no blood in the sand. Those days are, hopefully, over.

As we speak, the United States is also working to end the war in Afghanistan, and we are bringing our troops home. America is fulfilling our destiny as peacemaker, but it is peace through strength. We are stronger now than ever before. Our weapons are at an advanced level like we’ve never had before — like, frankly, we’ve never even thought of having before. And I only pray to God that we never have to use them.

[Taking care of your own people leads to real cooperation among nations:]

For decades, the same tired voices proposed the same failed solutions, pursuing global ambitions at the expense of their own people. But only when you take care of your own citizens will you find a true basis for cooperation. As President, I have rejected the failed approaches of the past, and I am proudly putting America first, just as you should be putting your countries first. That’s okay — that’s what you should be doing.

I am supremely confident that next year, when we gather in person, we will be in the midst of one of the greatest years in our history — and frankly, hopefully, in the history of the world.

Thank you. God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless the United Nations.

Published in Foreign Policy
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There are 8 comments.

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  1. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    This needs to be on the main feed ASAP.

    • #1
  2. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Yes. I want to share.

    • #2
  3. CB Toder aka Mama Toad Member
    CB Toder aka Mama Toad
    @CBToderakaMamaToad

    The president is such a boss. Love him. God bless him.

     

    • #3
  4. The Scarecrow Thatcher
    The Scarecrow
    @TheScarecrow

    If he’s a bull in a china shop, he’s the bull that china shop has needed for a looooong time. 

    Finally a President who wants to actually change actual things!

    (And finally somebody is calling China to task for all the fun we’ve been having since February. You go girl!)

    • #4
  5. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Well done, President Trump! Long overdue!

    • #5
  6. JamesSalerno Inactive
    JamesSalerno
    @JamesSalerno

    As far as foreign policy goes –a legit function of the executive branch– Trump has been the best president in my lifetime.

    • #6
  7. Boss Mongo Member
    Boss Mongo
    @BossMongo

    Y’know, I like POTUS, but I wish he would stop beating around the bush and tell us how he really feels.

    • #7
  8. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    kedavis (View Comment):

    This needs to be on the main feed ASAP.

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):
    Yes, I want to share.

    • #8
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