Trump at the UN: The president's finest speech

"The scourge of our planet today is a small group of rogue regimes that violate every principle on which the United Nations is based." – Donald Trump (Sept. 19, 2017)




This may have been Mr. Trump's finest speech as president. Written by Stephen Miller, President Trump's senior policy adviser, it was clear about the president's objectives and concise about how he and any nations that wish to join him might hope to achieve them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could barely stay in his seat. He said of the president's address: "In over 30 years in my experience with the U.N., I never heard a bolder or more courageous speech. President Trump spoke the truth about the great dangers facing our world and issued a powerful call to confront them in order to ensure the future of humanity."

Using his new nickname for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, Mr. Trump said the "rocket man" is on a "suicide mission" and that if he persists in his nuclear ambitions North Korea will be "destroyed." How to do this without causing massive civilian deaths is the question. Mr. Trump framed the issue as one of good vs. evil: "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."


The "corrupt and destabilizing regime in Cuba" was also a target for the president, who noted his recent announcement no sanctions would be lifted against the communist regime "until it makes fundamental reforms."




There was praise for the U.N.'s humanitarian work and a call for all nations to protect the idea of sovereignty, security and success for themselves as the best guarantee of peace.

Clearly, the president was trying to mobilize a lethargic world body to act in its own and the world's best interests. He laid out the threats and the opportunities. The question is will enough of the non-rogue nations acknowledge them and act to eradicate the threats they pose, while taking advantage of the opportunities freedom offers?

Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist. He can be reached at