Tuesday, 25.09.2018 17:05
Trump boasts successes - and reaps laughter

Donald Trump was unlikely to have reacted to this reaction: when - before the UN - the US president wanted to talk about the achievements of his previous term in office, the audience burst out laughing.

Donald Trump does not lack self-confidence and bravado, that's well known. From the fans in in the US President's home countrz he is always well-celebrated for his boasting But when he wanted to show off with the past successes of his government, in this second speech before the UN General Assembly, it caused above all one thing in the audience, amusement.

The country has become "stronger, safer and richer" since he took office in January 2017. "In less than two years, my government has achieved more than almost any other in US history," Trump said Tuesday in New York at the beginning of his speech.

From the audience came a short, but clearly audible, mocking laughter, which 'trumped' even Trump. "So true," he defended his comments before he had to admit, "I did not expect that reaction, but okay."

But then it was over with the good mood - and Trump began with the anticipated criticism and the blaming of other states. So he announced that the US would in the future only grant foreign aid to countries that respected the US and were friends with them. Trump explicitly opposed an "ideology of globalization" and defended his "America First" policy.

Towards Germany, he renewed his massive criticism over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Germany will "become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course," he said. The line is to transport Russian gas from the end of 2019 through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The US had recently commented on the project again and again extremely critical.

When it came to North Korea Trump he went back to self-praise. There has been a lot of movement since his summit with North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un in June. Progress had been achieved that many would not have thought possible. There are no more rockets flying in all directions, nuclear facilities are already partially dismantled. Trump thanked Kim for these steps and for his "courage." He emphasized at the same time that there is still a lot to do.

Trump and Kim had met for a summit meeting in Singapore on June 12th. After that, however, negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang stalled, as Kim had not made any concrete commitments.

The US President also took a stand on Iran's long-standing dispute and called for the global isolation of the government in Tehran. "We call on all nations to isolate the Iranian regime as long as its aggression continues," said Trump.

He defended the unilateral withdrawal of the USA from the nuclear agreement with Iran, to which the EU adheres. The economic pressure should deny the Iranian government the money to "pursue their bloody intentions," Trump said.

He stressed that a second round of sanctions will come into effect on 5 November. The US worked to see countries importing oil from Iran "significantly" reduce these imports. For the Iranian leadership, he found drastic words, calling them a "corrupt dictatorship," adding, "The Iranian leaders are sowing chaos, death, and destruction."

jok / dpa / Reuters / AFP

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