Trump makes no mention of N. Korea while touting his peace efforts, rebuking UN
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on the first day of the 80th session General Debate in the U.N. General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, Tuesday. World leaders gather annually in New York every September for several days of speeches at the United Nations General Assembly. Yonhap
U.S. President Donald Trump made no mention of North Korea or Korean Peninsula issues during his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, though he underscored his role in promoting world peace, claiming that he "ended seven wars" since taking office in January.
Standing in front of world leaders, Trump enumerated a range of his administration's achievements, including brokering an end to the conflicts between Israel and Iran; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Armenia and Azerbaijan; Thailand and Cambodia; India and Pakistan; Egypt and Ethiopia; and Serbia and Kosovo.
His remarks came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed openness to engaging in dialogue with the United States if Washington drops its demand for the North's denuclearization -- a statement that renewed expectations for a potential resumption of dialogue aimed at a peace deal.
His first address to the Assembly under his second term did not include any references to North Korea, though he mentioned the reclusive state in three of the four addresses he delivered during his first term, including the 2017 speech in which he famously called Kim a "rocket man" in a warning against Pyongyang.
Touching on his role in ending foreign conflicts, Trump took a swipe at the United Nations, arguing that the international organization was not helpful during his efforts to address the conflicts.
"No president or prime minister, and for that matter, no other country has ever done anything close to that. And I did (it in) just seven months. It's never happened before. There's never been anything like that," he said of his role in ending the wars.
"It's too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them. And sadly, in all cases, the U.N. did not even try to help in any of them," he added.
Trump launched the diatribe against the U.N. as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres listened from his seat just behind the podium.
"I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never even received a phone call from the U.N. offering help to finalize the deal," he said.
In jest, he said all he got from the U.N. were a broken teleprompter and an escalator that "on the way up stopped right in the middle."
The president went on to question the "purpose" of the U.N.
"The U.N. has such tremendous potential ... but it has not even ... coming close to living up to that potential for the most part, at least for now. All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter, and then never follow that letter up," he said.
"It's empty words, and empty words don't solve war. The only thing that solves wars is action."
He stressed that his drive to end wars is not for winning a Nobel Peace Prize, but for "saving lives."
"We saved millions and millions of lives with the seven wars, and we have others that we are working on."
Trump highlighted his peace efforts amid speculation that he could attempt to reengage with the North Korean leader when he visits South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit set to take place in the southeastern city of Gyeongju from Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
He has voiced his hope to meet Kim this year, raising expectations that he could seek to resume his personal diplomacy with Kim, which led to three meetings between them -- the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the last at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.
Commenting on the war between Russia and Ukraine, Trump pointed to China and India as the "primary funders" of the conflict, criticizing their purchase of Russian oil. He also noted that even North Atlantic Treaty Organization members have not cut off Russian energy products.
"Europe has to step it up. They can't be doing what they are doing. They are buying oil and gas from Russia while they are fighting Russia,"
He added, "They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia."
He also heaped pressure on Russia to agree to a peace deal.
"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, which would stop the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly," he said.
Aside from ending wars, he touted his achievements under his "America First" policy, including improving border security, securing trade deals with South Korea, Britain, the European Union, Japan and others, and attracting foreign investments.
He used those achievements to criticize former President Joe Biden, casting the term of the previous administration as "four years of weakness, lawlessness and radicalism."
"One year ago, our country was in deep trouble. Just eight months into my administration, we are the hottest country anywhere in the world, and there is no other country even close," he said.
"America is blessed with the strongest economy, the strongest borders, the strongest military, the strongest friendships and the strongest spirit of any nation on the face of the earth. This is indeed the golden age of America."
Reiterating his administration's pursuit of "fair" and "reciprocal" trade, Trump defended his use of tariffs as a "defense mechanism."
"The countries that follow the rules .... all their factories have been plundered ... They have been broken by countries that broke the rules," he said.
"That is why the U.S. is now applying tariffs to other countries as much as these tariffs were for many years applied to us, uncontrollably applied to us. We have used tariffs as a defense mechanism under the Trump administration."
Trump also called for countries to join in ending the development of biological weapons "once and for all."
"Biological (weapon) is terrible and nuclear is even beyond ... We include nuclear in that. We want to have a cessation of the development of nuclear weapons," he said.
He did not mention North Korea's nuclear program.
Calling efforts to promote clean energy and address climate change a "green scam," he urged world leaders to "get away" from those initiatives. He described the energy issue and immigration as threats to Western countries.
"You are doing it because you want to be nice ... you want to be politically correct," he said. "(You) must take control strongly and immediately of the unmitigated immigration disaster and the fake energy catastrophe before it's too late," he said.