Trump begins his UN speech by saying his administration has accomplished more than "almost any administration in the history of our country." There is some laughter in the hall. "So true," he says. The laughter gets louder. "Didn't expect that reaction," Trump says.
Rapid-fire: Trump lies to the UN that he has started construction of his border wall (no), that his $700 billion and $716 billion military budgets were record (Obama did $725 billion in 2011), and that he's created "half a million manufacturing jobs" (348,000 since Jan. 2017).
"I would like to thank Chairman Kim" for the steps he has taken, Trump says, a year after he called him "Rocket Man" in this venue.
Cannot remember another official speech at which Trump was literally laughed at, let alone a forum as prominent as this one.
On North Korea, Trump ad-libs that this is "a moment that is actually far greater than people would understand. Far greater."
Trump touts the success of the U.S. and its allies in driving ISIS's "bloodthirsty killers" off their territory in Syria and Iraq.
Trump congratulates Jordan for taking refugees from Syria. He says, "The most compassionate policy is to place refugees as close to their home as possible."
Here's the video of members of the U.N. General Assembly laughing at the president.
Talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (and maybe speaking more broadly), Trump says he will not listen to "so-called experts who have been proven wrong over the years time and time again."
Trump says the U.S. will not be taken advantage of on trade any more. He says the U.S. trade deficit is $800 billion. It's $566 billion, is only $800 billion if you ignore trade in services.
On trade, Trump says, "We will no longer tolerate such abuse. We will not allow our workers to be victimized, our companies to be cheated and our wealth to be plundered and transferred."
Trump says the U.N. Human Rights Council is a "grave embarrassment" to the U.N. for its bashing of the U.S. "and its many friends." Says he will not return to it until there is "real reform." Also says the International Criminal Court has "no authority."
Trump: "We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism."
Trump on OPEC: "We defend many of these nations for nothing, and then they take advantage of us by giving us high oil prices. Not good. We want them to stop raising prices...and they must contribute substantially to military protection from now on."
Trump on why he pulled the U.S. out of the global migration compact: "Migration should not be governed by an international body, unaccountable to our own citizens."
Talking about Venezuela, Trump urges all countries to "resist socialism and the misery that it brings to everyone." He's recently been claiming that Democrats will turn the U.S. into Venezuela with such policies as universal health care.
Trump: "The United States is the biggest giver in the world by far of foreign aid, but few give anything to us."
Trump: "Moving forward, we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and frankly are our friends."
Trump, talking about good things going on in the world, hails India, Israel, Poland, Saudi Arabia. He says Saudi Arabia is pursuing "bold new reforms."
Trump says that people around the world watching him speak have the same "heart of a patriot" for their own individual nations. He says that this patriotism has inspired scientific breakthroughs and great art. "Our task is not to erase it, but to embrace it," he says.
Trump wrapping up: "Together let us choose a future of patriotism, prosperity and pride."
Trump concludes: "Let us come here to this place to stand for our people and their nations: forever strong, forever sovereign, forever just, and forever thankful for the grace and the goodness and the glory of God."
The UN chuckles today were particularly striking because of how central the idea of "people laughing at us" has been both to Trump's rhetoric and to his own personal psyche. theweek.com/articles/70226…
