Disconnected Diplomacy: Trump’s speech to the United Nations

Over the past two weeks, New York has been flooded with delegates from around the globe for the United Nations’ Annual General Assembly. This event serves as a central event for diplomacy. Whether that be peace-making, discussion, or policy-making, the General Assembly is pivotal to the running of the United Nations. A special segment of the General Assembly also allows leaders of nations to present their agenda, progress, and opinions to a global audience. This week, in particular, United States President Donald Trump made a notable impact.

Trump opened his speech by making a dig at the past administration and taking pride in his first eight eventful months in office. He claimed that America has the strongest economy, borders, military, friendships, and spirit, emphasizing that “this is indeed the golden age of America.” However, many of these claims do not align with the sentiments of Americans and people worldwide. Despite the White House claiming 7 million jobs have been created, tariffs and excessive government spending have raised questions over how the administration is prioritizing the very people who gave them power. Trump has already spent around $40 million on a military parade and birthday celebration, and will be spending an estimated $1 billion on revamping his private jet, a gift from Qatar, to serve as a new Air Force One. Americans are wondering if this excess spending is essential in a time of mass homelessness, price increases due to tariffs, and a lack of healthcare in rural areas, for example. Junior Emma Porter added to that, asserting that Trump is only looking out for the top 1 percent: “it seems that many of the policies created have been aimed at his tax bracket, rather than the majority of Americans who truly require financial assistance.”

Another claim that could be perceived as false is that American friendships have been strengthened. Many friendships have been strained, as exhibited by the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement (a deal involving nearly every country to combat climate change), the initiation of a trade war with China, and the diversion of support to Ukraine, thereby creating additional risks for many NATO countries. It seems that Trump’s claims are a personal opinion rather than a fact, as many of those “strong” statements differ from what a large majority of Americans are feeling. The leader of the nation is boasting about progress that genuinely appears unmade, convincing many that he is out of touch. Junior Charlotte Belli added on, believing that this polarity and lack of knowledge comes from “the division within media and the absence of looking at life through numerous perspectives,” and she followed by saying that Trump is not an accurate representation of our nation and its core values.

Other important moments included the mention of a broken teleprompter twice within his speech, once at the very beginning and again halfway through. Additionally, he mentioned a fractured escalator, bragging about his and his wife’s good health, which he flaunted by highlighting their ability to walk. Moreover, Trump claimed to have ended many wars, proclaiming that, “this includes Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda … Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.” Despite the claims, many of the “peace deals” the administration flaunts as having succeeded in have had little to do with him or have completely fallen through, with some of these wars still ongoing as Trump was speaking. He questioned the ability and purpose of the United Nations, claiming that they “write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up.” He criticized the UN Headquarters, specifically their infrastructure, calling them un-knowledgeable about how to build and finance construction, due to their refusal to accept his deal to remodel in the 1990s. Trump went on to talk about how he should win the Nobel Peace Prize, then followed up by speaking on how all of Iran’s past military commanders have been killed and that he dropped “1,430,000-pound H-bombs on Iran’s key nuclear facility, totally obliterating everything.”

Rather than America being in its “Golden Age,” it seems that Trump has only been seeing the gold, literally, in his Oval Office, hidden away from the American people. I think his speech makes an embarrassment of our country and makes a mockery of what used to be the most prestigious job and highest office in the world, up until he took office. Making disrespectful remarks to honorable world leaders without situational awareness is truly blasphemous. Is he one of us and someone with our best interests in mind? I think this speech gives us our answer. I’m surprised that he is not being ridiculed, similarly to how he was when he gave his speech in the same place nine years ago. He constantly shot down his own points with his words. The speech was a symbol to the world. Trump was and is not diplomatic, and the next 3 years will be full of violence and lack of order, not only within our nation but around the globe. He even sums it up himself, “…I only do business with people I like.”