Donald Trump has ignited controversy with a provocative address at the United Nations, where he criticized countries for disintegrating due to immigration and warned them they were ‘going to hell’.
During his speech at the General Assembly in New York City on September 23, the President of the United States immediately attacked what he called the ‘failed experiment’ of open borders.
“When your prisons are filled with so-called asylum seekers who repay kindness – and that’s what they did, they repaid kindness with crime,” Trump stated to the assembly of global leaders.
He continued, emphasizing, “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders, you have to end it now. I can tell you, I’m really good at this stuff – your countries are going to hell.” Here’s a link to the speech:
Throughout his address, Trump reinforced his longstanding anti-immigration viewpoint, commending the achievements of his government.
“Once we started detaining and deporting everyone who crossed the border and removing illegal aliens from the United States, they simply stopped coming,” he claimed. “They’re not coming anymore.”
Trump also criticized the UN, questioning its effectiveness in international peace efforts.
“It’s too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them. That being the case, what is the purpose of the United Nations?” he questioned.
Trump then claimed he had concluded seven ‘unendable wars’ through American diplomacy and even suggested he might deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.
“What I care about is not winning prizes, it’s saving lives,” he remarked.
Addressing international drug trafficking, he described how the US military was now engaging with drug cartels near Venezuela, asserting that American forces had intercepted three vessels suspected of carrying narcotics.
“To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” Trump announced.
Despite his sharp critiques of the UN during his speech, Trump adopted a more conciliatory tone in a subsequent meeting with Secretary General António Guterres.
“Our country is behind the United Nations 100%,” Trump expressed, expressing gratitude to Guterres for ‘treating us so warmly’ and describing the organization as ‘a great opportunity for peace’.
“I may disagree with it sometimes but I am so behind it because I think the potential for peace for this institution is so great,” he added.
Before his address, Trump encountered some technical mishaps when an escalator paused as soon as he boarded and the teleprompter malfunctioned just as he began to speak.