Trump threatens to destroy North Korea, warns Iran of scrapping N-deal

UNITED NATIONS: US President Donald Trump who is facing tough resistance back in home on account of his various policies came out with a frontal attack on North Korea for its nuclear programme and threatened to destroy it completely and took on Iran for it being a rogue regime.

In his maiden appearance in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) summit here on Tuesday, he called North Korean leader as ‘rocket man who is on a suicide mission.’ The US president hinted to scrap the nuclear deal with Iran but he didn’t touch several issues being confronted by the world including the Rohingya Muslims. He delivered an address that presented a nationalistic, "America First" vision to the world. He reminded the fellow world leaders saying at the top, "We meet at a time of immense promise and great peril."

His speech was dark, and focused heavily on terrorism and the nuclear capabilities of nations hostile to the US. "Our military will soon be the strongest it has ever been," he added. "Rogue regimes represented in this body not only support terrorists, but threaten other nations and their own people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity," Trump said at the start, referring to Iran and North Korea. 

"Authority and authoritarian powers seek to collapse the values, the systems, and alliances that prevented conflict and tilted the world 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." UN members must all "respect the interests of their own people and their rights of every other sovereign nation,” he said. "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 emerged 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 like this one to defend the sovereignty, security, and prosperity for all," he said.

He went on to make a point about having "strong and independent, sovereign nations.” “In America the people govern, the people rule, and the people are sovereign,” he said. "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." “As long as I hold this office I will defend America’s interests above all else,” he added.

Referring to North Korea whose representative was sitting in the front row, Donald Trump said "The scourge of our planet today is a small group of rogue regimes that violate every principle on which 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," he said. He directly attacked the "depraved regime in North Korea" and went on to note the American who died after being held by the regime and the assassination of Kim Jong-Un’s brother.

"Now their 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," he said. "We will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man" his name for Kim Jong-Un "is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime."

This was the most bombastic line of Trump's speech. The remarks raised eyebrows and prompted charges of reckless saber rattling, but White House speech writers clearly intended to send a provocative message. He came on Iran heavily and said "We will stop radical Islamic terrorism because we cannot allow it to tear up our nation and indeed to tear up the entire world," he said, referring to the "loser terrorists." 

Trump went on to say that the Iran deal “an embarrassment” for the United States, suggesting that the US may abandon the 2015 deal negotiated by the Obama administration. “It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction,” Trump said. The US president said that Iran's future comes down its people who can "continue down the path of poverty, bloodshed, and terror" or "return to its roots as a center of civilisation, culture, and wealth."

He also dilated upon refugee crisis and launched into refugees a topic he's been widely criticised for, since he sought to ban refugees from six Muslim-majority nations in his travel ban. “The United States is a compassionate nation,” Trump said addressing the Syrian refugee crisis. 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.”

Donald Trump said that uncontrolled migration is “deeply unfair” to both the countries refugees are fleeing and the ones that take them in. For the sending countries, it reduces pressure and drains human capital needed to pursue reforms, Trump said. For the receiving countries the costs of uncontrolled migration are “born overwhelmingly by low-income citizens whose concerns are often ignored by both media and government.”

Trump also criticised Cuba and Venezuela in harsh words for their system and ideology. He vowed that “Our military will soon be the strongest it's ever been."