| Written by Sally Moore |

In what will undoubtedly be recalled as the finest speech of his career, President Trump addressed the full assembly of the United Nations on Tuesday, September 24 in New York. Throughout the speech he returned to the theme of freedom and sovereignty and warned against U.N. sponsored globalist trends. The tenor and content of this speech harkened back to Teddy Roosevelt, a fellow New Yorker, in its no-nonsense style which laid President Trump’s vision out softly- but carried a serious “big stick.” The seminal remarks ran just over 34 minutes and called for the end of religious persecution, addressed the inequity of international treaties and trade deals and his overarching negative stance on globalism. The address is available for viewing in its entirety online.

Labeling to the issue of religious freedom, an “urgent moral duty,” President Trump made a universal call to protect religious freedom. “Today with one clear voice the United States calls on all nations of the world to end religious persecution.”  He noted 80% of the world’s population live in countries where religious liberty is threatened, restricted or even banned.”  The president pledged $25 million toward protecting religious sites and places of worship.

President Trump laid out America’s national plans and world outlook while stirring equitable feelings of other’s national pride. “We believe that when nations respect the rights of their neighbors, the interests of their people, they can better work together to secure the blessings of safety, prosperity and peace.” He added, “Each of us here today is the emissary of a distinct culture, a rich history and a people bound together by ties of memory, tradition and the values that make our homelands like nowhere else on earth. That is why America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control and domination. I honor the right of every nation in this room to pursue its own customs, beliefs and traditions. The United States won’t tell you how to live, or work or worship- we only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return.”

The president seamlessly navigated his way around the globe. He praised Jordan as well as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for their efforts in trying to end the civil war in Syria and the conflict in Yemen. He urged the UN to reinvigorate efforts to bring peace to Syria.

Iran was singled out as an exporter of terror and financing war in Syria and Yemen, President Trump calmly accusing them of pillaging their own country. “Iranian leadership sows death, chaos and destruction. They don’t respect their neighbors, borders or sovereign rights of nations. Instead their leaders enrich themselves by plundering the nation’s resources and spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond.”

“The Iranian people,” he said. “Are rightly outraged by leaders who have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasury, ceased valuable portions of the economy and looted the people’s religious endowments to line the pockets and send their proxies to wage war.” This, the President reasoned, was why the United States pulled out of the ill-conceived, 2015 Iranian Nuclear deal and now is in the process of shoring up economic sanctions.

“We can’t allow a regime that chants ‘death to America’ and threatens the annihilation of Israel, to possess the means to deliver a nuclear warhead to any city on earth. Just can’t do it!” he said, then added, “We can’t allow them to possess the planet’s most dangerous weapons.” Trump implored the assembly, “I ask all nations to isolate Iran’s regime as long as its aggression continues. We ask you to support Iran’s people as they struggle to reclaim their religion and righteous destiny.”

Acknowledging the controversy stirred when the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last February he stated, “We are committed to peace and stability especially between Israel and the Palestinians.” However, he noted the decision to move the embassy and recognize the capital was grounded in “obvious facts and principled realism.” He assured America’s friends and enemies, “We will not be held hostage to dogma and discredited ideologies.”

Taking aim at longstanding trade imbalances the president also called for fair and reciprocal dealings. “We will not be taken advantage of any longer.” President Trump referenced an $800 billion dollar a year deficit, and stated that his administration was systematically renegotiating broken and bad trade deals. He announced America and South Korea’s new trade deal, calling it, “Just the beginning.”

President Trump roundly criticized the World Trade Organization (WTO) allowing countries in direct violation of the organization’s principles to join. Directly calling out China’s 13 trillion dollar trade deficit of the past two decades,Trump cited their government run industrial planning, relentless product dumping as well as forced technology transfers and theft of international intellectual property. He noted just since China joined the WTO America has lost $3 million manufacturing jobs, ¼ of all steel jobs and lost a staggering 60,000 factories.

“America will never apologize for protecting its citizens.” Lowering the boom, the president stated,”The U.S. has just announced tariffs on an additional 200 billion dollars in Chinese made goods for a total, so far, of 250 billion dollars.” Voicing real respect for the Chinese President Xi who has officially steered the People’s Republic since 2013, Trump boldly threw the gauntlet, noting, “Our trade imbalance is not acceptable.” Using Chinese market distortions as an example, he emphasized Chinese dealings could not be permitted to persist. “We will always act in our nation’s own interest.”

The U.S. President slammed the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) calling it a “grave embarrassment.” He stated, “The United States has withdrawn from the HRC and will not return until real reform has taken place.”

The International Criminal Court also earned scathing criticism from the leader of the free world, noting the organization has, “no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority.” Trump summarized, “The HRC claim near universal jurisdiction over citizens of every country but are in violation of all principles of justice, fairness and due process. “We will never surrender American sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy. America is governed by American’s. We reject the ideology of globalism and embrace the doctrine of Patriotism.” Eloquently, he stated, “Responsible nations must defend against threats to their sovereignty not just from global governance, but also from other new forms of coercion and domination.”

The President criticized OPEC for continuing to hike oil prices while friends foot the bill for defending them. “We defend these nations for nothing, then they take advantage by giving us high oil prices.” Trump specifically challenged OPEC to lower prices and “substantially contribute” to any military protection from now on, warning, “We won’t put up with it much longer.”

The President explained the U.S. has become the largest energy producer, “on the face of the earth,” and warned, “Reliance on a single foreign producer can leave a country vulnerable to extortion and intimidation.”

“Uncontrolled Migration,” President Trump said, was the result of Latin American failed socialist governments, cruel crime networks and both drug and human smuggling. “This vicious cycle of crime, violence and poverty,” he remarked, sparked a massive migration of peoples escaping chaos. “We recognize the right of every nation to set its own immigration policy in accordance with their national interests,” and asked others recognize America’s right to do the same. “The U.S. will not be participating in the new Global Compact on Migration.” He stated unequivocally, “Migration should not be governed by an international body which is unaccountable to our own citizens. Ultimately, the only long term solution is to help these people build a hopeful future in their own countries.”

In a long overdue measure, President Trump directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “Examine what works and what isn’t working,” in the matter of U.S. foreign aid. He explained the U.S. has long given tax dollars and much protection to foreign countries, many of whom do not have American interests at heart. “Moving forward,” he noted with dogged determination, “Foreign Aid will only go to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends.”

He asked other nations to pay their fair share for the cost of their own defense and called for greater U.N. financial responsibility. “The U.S. is committed to making the UN more accountable and more effective. “The potential is unlimited,” He added hopefully that the UN had the potential to bring, “Peace without fear, Hope without despair and Security without apology.” However, he balanced praise with a call for improvement. “As a reform effort, we won’t pay more than 25% of the budget. We are shifting more of our funding to voluntary spending rather than assessed- to those that have the best record of success.”

“In America we believe in the majesty of freedom, the dignity of the individual and we believe in self-governance and the rule of law. We prize the culture that sustains our liberty.” To the disparate countrymen before him in the audience he said, “Everyone in this great chamber has the heart of a patriot that feels the same powerful love, passion and loyalty for your own country. To unleash this incredible potential- to make the world a better place- we must defend the foundations that make it all possible. The sovereignty of independent nations are the only reason freedom has ever survived and democracy endured, and peace has every prospered. We must protect the sovereignty and our cherished independence above all.”

Repeating the theme that Globalism is dangerous, President Trump made a final plea for individual sovereignty and patriotism. “Let us come here to this place to stand for our people, and their nations- forever strong, sovereign, just and thankful for grace, goodness and the Glory of God.”