(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that no country should subsidize Iran's “bloodlust” and warned the Islamic Republic to stop threatening other nations.
He said said Tuesday that Iran is fueling wars in Syria and Yemen and squandering its wealth in a “fanatical quest for nuclear weapons.”
“We must never allow this to happen,” Trump said.
The president's annual speech to the UN featured boasts about U.S. might, complaints about its adversaries and warnings against uncontrolled migration and unregulated social media. He urged other countries to defend their borders and reject the erasure of nationalist identities.
“The future does not belong to globalists, the future belongs to patriots,” he said.
His remarks on Iran follow escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran over an attack this month on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. The U.S. has blamed Iran, and Trump said he strengthened sanctions against the country and is considering a military strike in response.
But he also offered the country an olive branch, saying he is still open to talks with Iranian leaders. “The United States has never believed in permanent enemies,” Trump said.
Trump spoke in an unusually slow and monotone cadence throughout the speech. Television footage showed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who was among Trump aides in the audience watching the speech, appearing to sleep through a portion of his boss's remarks.
Social Media Warning
Trump said other countries have taken advantage of the U.S. with unfair trade agreements, echoing assertions he has made since his 2016 campaign. He described his rationale for a trade war with China, and praised the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact that has yet to be approved by the U.S. Congress.
The president said social media companies must uphold free speech, hinting at his earlier assertions that they've discriminated against conservatives.
“A free society cannot allow social media giants to silence the voices of the people,” Trump said.
Trump warned Central American migrants against traveling north to the U.S. without authorization, saying they won't be allowed to enter. “You will be promptly returned home,” he said. “You will not be released into our country.”
He also issued a rebuke to migrant advocates. “Your policies are cruel and evil,” he said, charging that they are “empowering criminal organizations that prey on innocent men, women and children.”
Trump's own immigration policies have been called cruel by Democrats and advocacy groups.
Johnson Meeting
Though Trump said in his speech he's still open to talks with Iran, he hasn't scheduled a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who is in New York for the General Assembly. Trump said last week, following the Saudi Arabia attack, that he was no longer interested in a meeting.
Trump may have acquired a new European ally in his effort to isolate Tehran in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who on Monday sided with the U.S. president by saying the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran is flawed. Tensions between Trump and Rouhani flared after Trump pulled the country out of the pact brokered by former President Barack Obama and other world powers.
Johnson and Trump are meeting before the U.K. prime minister returns home following a British Supreme Court ruling that he illegally suspended parliament.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jordan Fabian in New York at jfabian6@bloomberg.net;Josh Wingrove in New York at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum
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