From fiery rhetoric to burden sharing, Washington reacts to Trump’s first UN speech

While portions of the speech were relatively standard for a U.S. president, at a few points Trump veered off into fiery language and directly challenged the body he once referred to as “just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”

As could be expected, the president’s address was polarizing back in Washington. But even while the president’s choice of words shocked his critics, a number of his calls for confronting global threats and pressing members of the international community to shoulder the burden of regional peace and prosperity did enjoy support domestically and on the world stage.ADDRESSING THE NORTH KOREAN THREAT

The greatest challenge President Trump placed at the feet of the international community was dealing with North Korea’s nuclear provocations.

In perhaps the most memorable segment of his 40-minute speech, Trump repeated his position that if threatened by the Kim Jong-Un regime, the United States would take action.

“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,” Trump warned.

“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.”

Democratic lawmakers back in Washington bristled at these remarks.

“Speaking before the United Nations is a moment that calls for genuine presidential leadership and for him to restore the world’s confidence,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said.

The international community is looking to the United States and President Trump to craft a path towards containing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Coons continued, “I’m not sure that throwing around personal nicknames or casual threats is the right way to do it.”

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) was even more critical of the president’s remarks before the U.N. General Assembly, saying, “The goals of the United Nations are to foster peace and promote global cooperation. Today, the president used it as a stage to threaten war.”

Even the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in his speech on Tuesday warned international leaders that “fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings.”

Just last week, the U.N. Security Council hit North Korea with new sanctions targeting oil shipments and textile exports following its sixth nuclear test on September 3. However, just days after the U.N. approved the sanctions, North Korea lofted a medium-range ballistic missile over Japan in its longest missile test to date.For the global peacekeeping body, North Korea represents a test, said Clifford May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“The threat from North Korea is so obvious and egregious. If the U.N. can’t be forceful about that, there’s not much the U.N. is likely to be forceful about,” he explained.

Trump himself was somewhat ambivalent about whether the U.N. would pass that test, repeating his position that the United States stood ready and willing to defend its own interests, even if it meant the use of force.

Sen. Cory Garden (R-Col.) supported the president’s tough line on North Korea, stressing that Kim Jong-Un is “a maniac who is destined to further develop his nuclear program.”

He further encouraged the president to be clear with all of our partners around the globe, especially China, “They can do business with the United States, or they can do business with a madman in Pyongyang, but they can’t do both.”

MEMBERS MUST PULL THEIR OWN WEIGHT

The test posed by North Korea is also a test of whether other members of the United Nations will pull their own weight, a theme Trump has emphasized in various multi-lateral venues from  NATO to the G-20 and now the U.N.

Currently, the United States is the single largest contributor to the United Nations, providing 22 percent of the organization’s operating budget and 28 percent of its peacekeeping budget.

In his speech, Trump stressed that no nation should have to shoulder the lion’s share of the U.N., “militarily or financially.” He continued that other member nations “must take a greater role in promoting secure and prosperous societies in their own region.”

The president’s budget priorities, sent to Congress in May, demonstrate the president is serious about cutting off unconditional U.S. support to the U.N. The budget included a 29 percent cut in funding to the State Department overall a 25 percent cap on U.S. contribution to U.N. peacekeeping operations in addition to cutting regular contributions to the organization.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, fought back against Trump’s cuts and together with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is providing additional funding for U.S. diplomacy.

Asked about Trump’s remarks before the U.N., Leahy questioned, “Why do we walk away from the world. We ought to be involved.” He noted that in recent months he sees the Trump administration “walking away,” from diplomacy in favor of “military might.”

Moreover, the U.S. delegation at the General Assembly this year was far smaller than under previous administrations. Back in July, Secretary Tillerson described it as “a toe-print, not a footprint,” and by some accounts, the Trump team at the General Assembly is about half the size of the delegation under Obama.

Whether the smaller U.S. presence and threatened withdrawal of financial support will be effective in changing the organization is yet to be seen.

Other presidents have asked U.N. members to do more but “clearly they haven’t,” May noted. “We’ll have to see if [Trump] follows up on that or if it’s simply rhetoric.”

In the meantime, Secretary-General Gutierrez appeared alongside President Trump and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley on Monday to champion a set of reforms to the United Nations to cut bureacratic red tape and curb the corruption, waste and mismanagement that has afflicted the organization for years.

“It’s not easy,” May said of reforming the U.N. “If it were, it would have been done already.”

Given the U.S. president’s focus on reform along with the secretary-general, May sees a possibility for reform, something he says, “hasn’t been true for a very long time.”

TRUMP SIGNALS POSSIBLE WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

The other threat Trump addressed that raised some concerns back in Washington was the threat posed by Iran.

Like presidents before him, Trump addressed Iran’s destabilizing behavior within the Middle East, including sponsoring terrorism throughout the region, but then called into question the American commitment to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.

Trump renewed his criticism of the agreement reached with Iran by President Barack Obama’s administration, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union, saying it was “an embarrassment to the United States.”

Hinting at what could be a U.S. withdrawal from the deal, Trump stated, “We cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program.”

The strong words against Iran garnered the support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who praised Trump’s “clear and brave” speech. In his own address to the General Assembly, Netanyahu stressed his dissatisfaction with the Iran nuclear deal calling on the parties to “fix it or nix it.”

The French delegation, however, warned that a U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) would result in a “spiral of proliferation.” French President Emmanuel Macron indicated that he and the delegation would devote diplomatic energy this week to convincing President Trump to keep the U.S. a party to the deal.

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who has been in talks with the Trump administration on the Iran nuclear deal, refused to tip his hand on how he sees the administration moving forward on the nuclear agreement.

Corker said that he has been in contact with the president, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and members of the national security team. Trump has until October 15 to decide whether or not he will recertify the JCPOA.

‘AMERICA FIRST’ MESSAGE ELICITS APPLAUSE

While many wondered how the president’s America first message would be received on a world stage, the chamber full of world leaders and diplomats seemed to respond positively to Trump’s explanation of America pursuing its own national interests and other nations doing the same.

“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,” Trump stated to the sound of applause.

This message from an American president was unique in the recent history of the United Nations, May noted, and is at odds with the internationalist approach of the previous administration.

“I think it was challenging to explain America first and why other nations should understand and not be opposed to that,” May said, noting that the president walked a careful line between interventionism and isolationism.

“The fact of the matter is, putting your country first doesn’t mean you don’t have global interests, it doesn’t mean you don’t have shared values with many other nations,” he continued. “He did a good job in explaining that.”