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Mr. Secretary General, Mr. President, world
leaders, and distinguished delegates, welcome to New York. It is a profound
honor to stand here in my home city as a representative of the American people
to address the people of the world. As millions of our citizens continue to
suffer the effects of the devastating hurricanes that have struck our country,
I want to begin by expressing my appreciation to every leader in this room who
has offered assistance and aid. The American people are strong and resilient, and
they will emerge from these hardships more determined than ever before.
Fortunately, the
United States has done very well since Election Day last November 8. The stock
market is at an all-time high, a record. Unemployment is at its lowest level in
16 years, and because of our regulatory and other reforms, we have more people
working in the United States today than ever before. Companies are moving back,
creating job growth, the likes of which our country has not seen in a very long
time, and it has just been announced that we will be spending almost $700
billion on our military and defense. Our military will soon be the strongest it
has ever been. For more than 70 years, in times of war and peace, the leaders
of nations, movements, and religions have stood before this assem Like
them, I intend to address some of the very serious threats before us today, but
also the enormous potential waiting to be unleashed. We live in a time of
extraordinary opportunity. Breakthroughs in science, technology, and medicine
are curing illnesses and solving problems that prior generations thought
impossible to solve. But each day also brings news of growing dangers that
threaten everything we cherish and value. Terrorists and extremists have
gathered strength and spread to every region of the planet. Rogue regimes
represented in this body not only support terror but threaten other nations and
their own people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity.
Authority and authoritarian powers
seek to collapse the values, the systems, and alliances, that prevented
conflict and tilted the word toward freedom since World War II. International
criminal networks traffic drugs, weapons, people, force dislocation and mass
migration, threaten our borders and new forms of aggression exploit technology
to menace our citizens. To put it simply, we meet at a time of both immense
promise and great peril. It is entirely up to us whether we lift the world to
new heights or let it fall into a valley of disrepair. We have it in our power,
should we so choose, to lift millions from poverty, to help our citizens
realize their dreams, and to ensure that new generations of children are raised
free from violence, hatred, and fear.
This institution was founded in the
aftermath of two world wars, to help shape this better future. It was based on
the vision that diverse nations could cooperate to protect their sovereignty, preserve
their security, and promote their prosperity. It was in the same period exactly
70 years ago that the United States developed the Marshall Plan to help restore
Europe. Those these beautiful pillars, they are pillars of peace, sovereignty,
security, and prosperity. The Marshall Plan was built on the noble idea that
the whole world is safer when nations are strong, independent, and free. As
president, Truman said in his message to congress at that time, our support of
European recovery is in full accord wit The success of the United Nations
depends upon the independent strength of its members. To overcome the perils of
the present, and to achieve the promise of the future, we must begin with the
wisdom of the past. Our success depends on a coalition of strong and
independent nations that embrace their sovereignty, to promote security,
prosperity, and peace, for themselves and for the world. We do not expect
diverse countries to share the same cultures, traditions, or even systems of
government, but we do expect all nations to uphold these two core sovereign
duties, to respect the interests of their own people and the rights of every
other sovereign nation.
This is the beautiful vision of this
institution, and this is the foundation for cooperation and success. Strong
sovereign nations let diverse countries with different values, different
cultures, and different dreams not just coexist, but work side by side on the
basis of mutual respect. Strong sovereign nations let their people take
ownership of the future and control their own destiny. And strong sovereign
nations allow individuals to flourish in the fullness of the life intended by
God. In America, we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather
to let it shine as an example for everyone to watch.
This week gives our country a special
reason to take pride in that example. We are celebrating the 230th anniversary
of our beloved Constitution, the oldest constitution still in use in the world
today. This timeless document has been the foundation of peace, prosperity, and
freedom for the Americans and for countless millions around the globe whose own
countries have found inspiration in its respect for human nature, human
dignity, and the rule of law. The greatest in the united States Constitution is
its first three beautiful words. They are “We the people.” Generations of
Americans have sacrificed to maintain the promise of those words, the promise
of our country and of our great history.
In America, the people govern, the
people rule, and the people are sovereign. I was elected not to take power, but
to give power to the American people where it belongs. In foreign affairs, we
are renewing this founding principle of sovereignty. Our government’s first
duty is to its people, to our citizens, to serve their needs, to ensure their
safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values. As president of
the United States, I will always put America first. Just like you, as the
leaders of your countries, will always and should always put your countries
first.
All responsible leaders have an
obligation to serve their own citizens, and the nation state remains the best
vehicle for elevating the human condition. But making a better life for our
people also requires us to with work together in close harmony and unity, to
create a more safe and peaceful future for all people.
The United States will forever be a
great friend to the world and especially to its allies. But we can no longer be
taken advantage of or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets
nothing in return. As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s
interests above all else, but in fulfilling our obligations to our nations, we
also realize that it’s in everyone’s interests to seek the future where all
nations can be sovereign, prosperous, and secure.
America does more than speak for the
values expressed in the United Nations charter. Our citizens have paid the
ultimate price to defend our freedom and the freedom of many nations
represented in this great hall. America’s devotion is measured on the
battlefields where our young men and women have fought and sacrificed alongside
of our allies. From the beaches of Europe to the deserts of the Middle East to
the jungles of Asia, it is an eternal credit to the American character that
even after we and our allies emerge victorious from the bloodiest war in
history, we did not seek territorial expansion or attempt to oppose and impose
our way of life on others. Instead, we helped build institutions such as this
one to defend the sovereignty, security, and prosperity for all. For the
diverse nations of the world, this is our hope.
We want harmony and friendship, not
conflict and strife. We are guided by outcomes, not ideologies. We have a
policy of principled realism, rooted in shared goal, interests, and values.
That realism forces us to confront the question facing every leader and nation
in this room, it is a question we cannot escape or avoid. We will slide down
the path of complacency, numb to the challenges, threats, and even wars that we
face, or do we have enough strength and pride to confront those dangers today
so that our citizens can enjoy peace and prosperity tomorrow.
If we desire to lift up our citizens,
if we aspire to the approval of history, then we must fulfill our sovereign
duties to the people we faithfully represent. We must protect our nations,
their interests and their futures. We must reject threats to sovereignty from
the Ukraine to the South China Sea. We must uphold respect for law, respect for
borders, and respect for culture, and the peaceful engagement these allow.
And just as the founders of this body
intended, we must work together and confront together those who threatens us
with chaos, turmoil, and terror. The score of our planet today is small regimes
that violate every principle that the United Nations is based. They respect
neither their own citizens nor the sovereign rights of their countries. If the
righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph. When
decent people and nations become bystanders to history, the forces of
destruction only gather power and strength.
No one has shown more contempt for
other nations and for the well-being of their own people than the depraved
regime in North Korea. It is responsible for the starvation deaths of millions
of North Koreans. And for the imprisonment, torture, killing, and oppression of
countless more. We were all witness to the regime’s deadly abuse when an
innocent American college student, Otto Warmbier, was returned to America, only
to die a few days later.
We saw it in the assassination of the
dictator’s brother, using banned nerve agents in an international airport. We
know it kidnapped a sweet 13-year-old Japanese girl from a beach in her own
country, to enslave her as a language tutor for North Korea’s spies. If this is
not twisted enough, now North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and
ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human
life. It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a
regime, but would arm, supply, and financially support a country that imperils
the world with nuclear conflict.
No nation on Earth has an interest in
seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles. The
United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend
itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North
Korea. Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. The
United States is ready, willing, and able, but hopefully this will not be
necessary. That’s what the United Nations is all about. That’s what the United
Nations is for. Let’s see how they do.
It is time for North Korea to realize
that the denuclearization is its only acceptable future. The United Nations
Security Council recently held two unanimous 15-0 votes adopting hard-hitting
resolutions against North Korea, and I want to thank China and Russia for
joining the vote to impose sanctions, along with all of the other members of
the Security Council. Thank you to all involved. But we must do much more.
It is time for all nations to work
together to isolate the Kim regime until it ceases its hostile behavior. We
face this decision not only in North Korea; it is far past time for the nations
of the world to confront another reckless regime, one that speaks openly of mass
murder, vowing death to America, destruction to Israel, and ruin for many
leaders and nations in this room.
The Iranian government masks a
corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a
wealthy country, with a rich history and culture, into an economically depleted
rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos. The
longest-suffering victims of Iran’s leaders are, in fact, its own people.
Rather than use its resources to improve Iranian live, its oil profits go to
fund Hezbollah and other terrorists that kill innocent Muslims and attack their
peaceful Arab and Israeli neighbors.
This wealth, which rightly belongs to
Iran’s people, also goes to shore up Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship, fuel
Yemen’s civil war, and undermine peace throughout the entire Middle East. We
cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while
building dangerous missiles, and we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides
cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program. The Iran deal was one
of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered
into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t
think you’ve heard the last of it. Believe me.
It is time for the entire world to
join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and
destruction. It is time for the regime to free all Americans and citizens of
other nations that they have unjustly detained. Above all, Iran’s government must
stop supporting terrorists, begin serving its own people, and respect the
sovereign rights of its neighbors. The entire world understands that the good
people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the
United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most. This is
what causes the regime to restrict internet access, tear down satellite dishes,
shoot unarmed student protesters, and imprison political reformers.
Oppressive regimes cannot endure
forever, and the day will come when the people will face a choice. Will they
continue down the path of poverty, bloodshed, and terror, or will the Iranian
people return to the nation’s proud roots as a center of civilization, culture,
and wealth, where their people can be happy and prosperous once again? The
Iranian regime’s support for terror is in stark contrast to the recent
commitments of many of its neighbors to fight terrorism and halt its finance,
and in Saudi Arabia early last year, I was greatly honored to address the leaders
of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations. We agreed that all responsible nations
must work together to confront terrorists and the Islamic extremism that
inspires them.
We will stop radical islamic
terrorism because we cannot allow it to tear up our nation and, indeed, to tear
up the entire world. We must deny the terrorists’ safe haven, transit, funding,
and any form of support for their vile and sinister ideology. We must drive
them out of our nation. It is time to expose and hold responsible those countries
whose support and fi — who support and finance terror groups like al-Qaeda,
Hezbollah, the Taliban, and others that slaughter innocent people.
The United States and our allies are
working together throughout the Middle East to crush the loser terrorists and
stop the reemergence of safe havens they use to launch attacks on all of our
people. Last month I announced a new strategy for victory in the fight against
this evil in Afghanistan. From now on, our security interests will dictate the
length and scope of military operation, not arbitrary benchmarks and timetables
set up by politicians. I have also totally changed the rules of engagement in
our fight against the Taliban and other terrorist groups.
In Syria and Iraq, we have made big
gains toward lasting defeat of ISIS. In fact, our country has achieved more
against ISIS in the last eight months than it has in many, many years combined.
We seek the deescalation of the Syrian conflict, and a political solution that
honors the will of the Syrian people. The actions of the criminal regime of
Bashar al-Assad, including the use of chemical weapons against his own
citizens, even innocent children, shock the conscience of every decent person.
No society could be safe if banned chemical weapons are allowed to spread. That
is why the United States carried out a missile strike on the airbase that
launched the attack.
We appreciate the efforts of the
United Nations’ agencies that are providing vital humanitarian assistance in
areas liberated from ISIS, and we especially thank Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon
for their role in hosting refugees from the Syrian conflict. The United States
is a compassionate nation and has spent billions and billions of dollars in
helping to support this effort. We seek an approach to refugee resettlement
that is designed to help these horribly treated people and which enables their
eventual return to their home countries to be part of the rebuilding process.
For the cost of resettling one refugee in the United States, we can assist more
than 10 in their home region.
Out of the goodness of our hearts, we
offer financial assistance to hosting countries in the region and we support
recent agreements of the G20 nations that will seek to host refugees as close
to their home countries as possible. This is the safe, responsible, and
humanitarian approach. For decades the United States has dealt with migration
challenges here in the Western Hemisphere.
We have learned that over the long
term, uncontrolled migration is deeply unfair to both the sending and the
receiving countries. For the sending countries, it reduces domestic pressure to
pursue needed political and economic reform and drains them of the human
capital necessary to motivate and implement those reforms. For the receiving
countries, the substantial costs of uncontrolled migration are born
overwhelmingly by low-income citizens whose concerns are often ignored by both
media and government.
I want to salute the work of the
United Nations in seeking to address the problems that cause people to flee
from their home. The United Nations and African Union led peacekeeping missions
to have invaluable contributions in stabilizing conflict in Africa. The United
States continues to lead the world in humanitarian assistance, including famine
prevention and relief, in South Sudan, Somalia, and northern Nigeria and Yemen.
We have invested in better health and
opportunity all over the world through programs like PEPFAR, which funds AIDS
relief, the President’s Malaria Initiative, the Global Health Security Agenda,
the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, and the Women Entrepreneur’s Finance
Initiative, part of our commitment to empowering women all across the globe.
We also thank — we also thank the
secretary general for recognizing that the United Nations must reform if it is
to be an effective partner in confronting threats to sovereignty, security, and
prosperity. Too often the focus of this organization has not been on results,
but on bureaucracy and process. In some cases, states that seek to subvert this
institution’s noble end have hijacked the very systems that are supposed to
advance them. For example, it is a massive source of embarrassment to the
United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on
the UN Human Rights Council.
The United States is one out of 193
countries in the United Nations, and yet we pay 22 percent of the entire budget
and more. In fact, we pay far more than anybody realizes. The United States
bears an unfair cost burden, but to be fair, if it could actually accomplish
all of its stated goals, especially the goal of peace, this investment would
easily be well worth it. Major portions of the world are in conflict, and some,
in fact, are going to hell, but the powerful people in this room, under the guidance
and auspices of the United Nations, can solve many of these vicious and complex
problems. The American people hope that one day soon the United Nations can be
a much more accountable and effective advocate for human dignity and freedom
around the world.
In the meantime, we believe that no
nation should have to bear a disproportionate share of the burden, militarily
or financially. Nations of the world must take a greater role in promoting
secure and prosperous societies in their own region. That is why in the Western
Hemisphere the United States has stood against the corrupt, destabilizing
regime in Cuba and embraced the enduring dream of the Cuban people to live in
freedom.
My administration recently announced
that we will not lift sanctions on the Cuban government until it makes
fundamental reforms. We have also imposed tough calibrated sanctions on the
socialist Maduro regime in Venezuela, which has brought a once thriving nation
to the brink of total collapse. The socialist dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro
has inflicted terrible pain and suffering on the good people of that country.
This corrupt regime destroyed a
prosperous nation — prosperous nation, by imposing a failed ideology that has
produced poverty and misery everywhere it has been tried. To make matters
worse, Maduro has defied his own people, stealing power from their elected
representatives, to preserve his disastrous rule. The Venezuelan people are
starving, and their country is collapsing. Their democratic institutions are
being destroyed. The situation is completely unacceptable, and we cannot stand
by and watch.
As a responsible neighbor and friend,
we and all others have a goal — that goal is to help them regain their freedom,
recover their country, and restore their democracy. I would like to thank
leaders in this room for condemning the regime and providing vital support to
the Venezuelan people. The United States has taken important steps to hold the
regime accountable. We are prepared to take further action if the government of
Venezuela persists on its path to impose authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan
people.
We are fortunate to have incredibly
strong and healthy trade relationships with many of the Latin American
countries gathered here today. Our economic bond forms a critical foundation
for advancing peace and prosperity for all of our people and all of our
neighbors. I ask every country represented here today to be prepared to do more
to address this very real crisis. We call for the full restoration of democracy
and political freedoms in Venezuela. The problem in Venezuela is not that
socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has been faithfully
implemented.
From the Soviet Union to Cuba to
Venezuela, wherever true socialism or communism has been adopted, it has
delivered anguish and devastation and failure. Those who preach the tenets of these
discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the people
who live under these cruel systems. America stands with every person living
under a brutal regime. Our respect for sovereignty is also a call for action.
All people deserve a government that cares for their safety, their interests,
and their well-being, including their prosperity. In America, we seek stronger
ties of business and trade with all nations of goodwill, but this trade must be
fair and it must be reciprocal.
For too long the American people were
told that mammoth, multinational trade deals, unaccountable international
tribunals, and powerful global bureaucracies were the best way to promote their
success. But as those promises flowed, millions of jobs vanished and thousands
of factories disappeared. Others gamed the system and broke the rules, and our
great middle class, once the bedrock of American prosperity, was forgotten and
left behind, but they are forgotten no more and they will never be forgotten
again.
While America will pursue cooperation
and commerce with other nations, we are renewing our commitment to the first
duty of every government, the duty of our citizens. This bond is the source of
America’s strength and that of every responsible nation represented here today.
If this organization is to have any hope of successfully confronting the
challenges before us, it will depend, as President Truman said some 70 years
ago, on the independent strength of its members. If we are to embrace the
opportunities of the future and overcome the present dangers together, there
can be no substantive for strong, sovereign, and independent nations, nations
that are rooted in the histories and invested in their destiny, nations that
seek allies to befriend, not enemies to conquer, and most important of all,
nations that are home to men and women who are willing to sacrifice for their
countries, their fellow citizens, and for all that is best in the human spirit.
In remembering the great victory that
led to this body’s founding, we must never forget that those heroes who fought
against evil, also fought for the nations that they love. Patriotism led the
Poles to die to save Poland, the French to fight for a free France, and the
Brits to stand strong for Britain. Today, if we do not invest ourselves, our
hearts, our minds, and our nations, if we will not build strong families, safe
communities, and healthy societies for ourselves, no one can do it for us.
This is the ancient wish of every
people and the deepest yearning that lives inside every sacred soul. So let
this be our mission, and let this be our message to the world. We will fight
together, sacrifice together, and stand together for peace, for freedom, for
justice, for family, for humanity, and for the almighty God who made us all.
Thank you, God bless you, God bless the nations of the world, and God bless the
United States of America. Thank you very much.
