NEW YORK: Tuesday will bring a steady flow of big speeches at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where world leaders will lay out their visions for humanity and address global crises from North Korea to Venezuela.
President Donald Trump plans a speech that will take North Korea and Iran to task, as well as countries he believes are enabling their nuclear and missile programmes. Don’t expect a new “Axis of Evil’’ moment; the catchphrase for Mr Trump will be “principled realism”.
Mr Trump is just one of 37 leaders at the podium Tuesday. Middle East relations and the war in Syria will be in the spotlight as the heads of Qatar, Jordan, Turkey and Israel lay out their priorities. On the sidelines, French President Emmanuel Macron will present his case for the Paris climate change accord, which Mr Trump has vowed to quit.
But all eyes will be on the US president, back in the city where his fortune was made. Mr Trump has put the UN on notice, vowing to cut US contributions and challenging the global body to prove its value. Reprising a campaign slogan, Mr Trump said “The main message is ‘make the United Nations great’. Not again. Just ‘make the United Nations great’.’’