‘You’re going to hell’: Trump attacks UN and Europe in scathing speech
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US President Donald Trump addressing the 80th United Nations General Assembly on Sept 23.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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UNITED NATIONS – US President Donald Trump argued for lower levels of global migration and urged a turn away from climate change policies on Sept 23 in a combative, wide-ranging speech to the UN General Assembly that levelled scathing criticism at world leaders.
The 56-minute speech was a rebuke to the world body and a return to form for Mr Trump, who routinely bashed the UN during his first term as president. Leaders gave him polite applause when he exited the chamber.
He rejected moves by allies to endorse a Palestinian state amid Israel’s latest Gaza offensive and urged European nations to adopt the same set of economic measures he is proposing against Russia to force an end to the war in Ukraine.
Much of his speech was dominated by two of his biggest grievances: immigration and climate change.
Mr Trump offered his US immigration crackdown as a case study for what other world leaders should do to curb mass migration he says is altering the fabric of nations. Human rights advocates argue the migrants are seeking better lives.
“I’m really good at this stuff,” Mr Trump said. “Your countries are going to hell.”
Mr Trump, who last week met Britain’s environmentally conscious King Charles III at Windsor Castle, called climate change a “con job”
“Immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe,” Mr Trump said.
Criticism for allies, possible tariffs on Russia
European powers have spent months trying to stabilise their relationship with the US leader with a focus on winning US support to end the war in Ukraine. At a Nato summit in June, Mr Trump and European leaders lavished each other with praise.
But in his Sept 23 speech, Mr Trump mocked Nato allies for not shutting down purchases of Russian oil and said he would impose strong economic measures against Moscow.
“They’re funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one? In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs,” he said.
“But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations, all of you are gathered here right now, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures.”
He did not detail the measures, but he has been considering a package that includes sanctions against countries that do business with Russia, like India and China. The main buyers of Russian oil in Europe are Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey.
Later, Mr Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
On the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Mr Trump gave a thumbs down to efforts by world leaders to embrace a Palestinian state,
“The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” he said, repeating his call for the return of hostages taken by the Palestinian militant group.
Mr Trump said the United States wants a ceasefire-for-hostages deal that would see the return of all remaining hostages, alive and dead.
“We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately. We have to immediately negotiate peace,” he said.
He was to discuss the future of Gaza during afternoon talks with several Gulf leaders.
Mr Trump, who has cast himself as a peacemaker in a bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize, complained that the UN did not support his efforts to end conflicts around the world.
He twinned his complaint with personal complaints about the UN infrastructure, saying he and First Lady Melania Trump were briefly marooned on a malfunctioning UN escalator and that his teleprompter was not initially working.
“These are the two things I got from the United Nations – a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” Mr Trump said, noting that Mrs Trump nearly fell when the escalator stopped abruptly. REUTERS
