Addressing the UN General Assembly for the first time since taking office, Trump said on Tuesday that North Korea’s nuclear programme and leader Kim Jong-un’s threats of missile strikes was “a suicide mission”.
“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,” he said.
“‘Rocket Man’ is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. The United States is ready, willing and able, but hopefully this will not be necessary,” Trump added, referring to the North Korean leader with a nickname he gave last week on Twitter.
Trump also said it was “an outrage” that some nations would trade with Pyongyang as well as arm the North Korean government and provide financial support.
“No nation on earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles,” he said.
Here are three main topics Trump addressed in his speech:
United States
“Fortunately the United States has done very well since election day last November 8. The stock market is at an all-time high. A record!
“Unemployment is at its lowest level in 16 years. And because of our regulatory and other reforms, we have more people working in the United States today than ever before. Companies are moving back, creating job growth the likes of which our country has not seen in a very long time.
“And it has just been announced that we will be spending almost $700bn on our military and defence. Our military will soon be the strongest it has ever been.”
“As president of the United States, I will always put ‘America first’… We can no longer be taken advantage of, or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return. As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interest above all else.”
North Korea
“North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human life.
“It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime, but would arm supply and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict. No nation on earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles.
“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. ‘Rocket man’ is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. The United States is ready, willing and able, but hopefully this will not be necessary.”
Iran
“The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind a false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy party with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos.
“The longest suffering victims of Iran’s leaders are in fact its own people. Rather than use its resources to improve Iranian lives, its oil profits go to fund Hezbollah and other terrorists that kill innocent Muslims and attack their peaceful Arab and Israeli neighbours.
“This wealth which rightly belongs to Iran’s people also goes to shore up Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship, fuel Yemen’s civil war and undermine peace throughout the entire Middle East.
“We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilising activities while building dangerous missiles and we cannot abide by the agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear programme.
“The Iran deal was one of the worst and one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
No comments: