President Trump emphasized American sovereignty and cautioned fellow leaders against the dangers of “global governance and domination” during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
“America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism,” Trump said, before maligning the intervention-focused foreign-policy “experts” he claims to ignore in favor of an approach defined by “principled realism.”
While Trump made much of the importance of respecting each member state’s sovereignty, he did pledge to once again intervene in the Syrian Civil War should president Bashar al-Assad use chemical weapons against his own people.
“The ongoing tragedy in Syria is heartbreaking. Our shared goals must be the deescalation of military conflict along with a political solution that honors the will of the Syrian people,” Trump said. “In this vein we urge the United States peace process be reinvigorated. But rest assured the United States will respond if chemical weapons are deployed by the Assad regime.”
Throughout the speech, Trump emphasized the need for reciprocity between the U.S. and its allies, pointing out that the U.S. gives significantly more in foreign aid than it receives in return.
“Few give anything to us. That is why we are taking a hard look at U.S. foreign assistance. We will examine what is working, what is not working, and whether the countries who receive our dollars and our protection also have our interests at heart,” Trump said. “Moving forward we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, our friends. And we expect other countries to pay their fair share for the cost of their defense.”
In a brief moment of levity, Trump drew laughter after claiming his administration had accomplished more in its first two years than “almost any other administration in the history of our country.”
Trump greeted by laughter while addressing United Nations: 'In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.' More: https://t.co/MvLlmxGk7b #7News pic.twitter.com/2DqzPgOPuC
— 7News Boston WHDH (@7News) September 25, 2018
“I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay,” Trump said, prompting more laughter and applause.