Trump Touts Foreign Policy Vision in UN Speech Ahead of Midterms
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What did President Trump claim about his foreign‑policy achievements at the UN?
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President Trump defends his global policy interventions in front of the United Nations and raises the possibility of further military action in Iran. Plus, a new school starting in San Francisco offers an alternative to college for aspiring tech founders.
The students might be building their own company or launching a product or trying to learn how to build an LLM, for example.
And a government task force removes more than 700,000 people it says are fraudulently enrolled in Obamacare. It's Tuesday, September 22nd. I'm Alex Osala for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News? The top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Today, President Trump spoke in front of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. In his roughly 35-minute speech, Trump argued that his forceful interventions have made the world a safer place.
I have made peace, while others have ignored threats. I have confronted them while others have talked of courage America has shown it. While others have promised strength, I have used it to make America the most powerful country in the world.
But he also warned other countries that he's prepared to take military action. On Iran, he framed his choice as either striking a deal over its nuclear program or escalating the war to a full-on bombing campaign.
Will a deal be made with Iran? that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before. maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope? Of future greatness or generations.
For more on President Trump's address and how it's gone over, I'm joined now by WSJ national security reporter Alex Ward. Alex, Trump's speech today, how different a tone was this for the president?
This was more like a campaign speech, like he was trying to make a case for his leadership for Republicans ahead of the midterms.
How did Alex Ward describe the tone of Trump’s UN speech as a mid‑term campaign pitch?
It also had a bit of a dissonant message. He started saying, like, I am the president of peace, you know, I've stopped a war. But then also in the same speech he muses about maybe I should annihilate Iran if they don't make a deal, and maybe the government of Cuba will fall and we'll pressure them. It's just a really split screeny type message to deliver. Those global politicians were not really the audience, it was the American people, which I think most of these speeches typically are. And this was very much like a, hey, Americans, pay attention to what I've done.
As we just heard, President Trump did talk about Iran and the possibility of future military action, but did he indicate anything about what might happen in other places?
So he mentioned Cuba a decent amount. Cuba has been under strict sanctions by the US. Trump thinks that regime is bad. What Trump would appreciate with the Cubans for them to basically just surrender to America, become this capitalist society overnight, not gonna happen. It wasn't direct in saying like America's gonna overthrow the regime, but he did say the US was seeking fundamental change, which is a pretty blatant thing to say. Trump likes to say American foreign policy follows this peace through strength thing. He's saying a strong America, an active America, an interventionist America leads to greater outcomes over time, even if there's pain in the middle. Now that's of course a convenient thing to say during the Iran war, but that seems to be his midterm pitch.
I was gonna say shortly before the midterms, this timing is not a coincidence. How did this go over with other foreign dignitaries there?
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What did President Trump claim about his foreign‑policy achievements at the UN?
0:00–2:40
2
How did Alex Ward describe the tone of Trump’s UN speech as a mid‑term campaign pitch?
2:40–4:54
3
What was the reaction of the Iranian and Cuban delegations to Trump’s threats?
4:54–7:26
4
Which world leaders did Trump meet after his UN address and what were the outcomes?
7:26–10:28
5
Did the side‑track talks between U.S. and Iranian officials signal a diplomatic shift?
10:28–12:48
6
Why is a Republican senator pushing for an investigation of Donald Trump Jr.?
12:48–13:16
Speakers
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