What A Bad Day for America At the UN!! An Avalanche of Contradictions By Donald Trump and of Laughter At Him

In his second annual appearance before the U.N. General Assembly, Donald Trump lived up to universal expectation. By making as little sense as possible before the presidents and prime ministers of 193 member states. An avalanche of contradictions, gushing out of the mouth of a man who doesn't like to read. Supplemented by much laughter at him.

So before an organization devoted to international cooperation for peace and prosperity, the Donald gleefully announced:

• American withdrawal from membership on the U.N. Human Rights Council;
• Reduction of American contributions to UN peace-keeping operations to 25% of the required budget;
• The readiness of America to use its economic might to force other nations into submission to American barriers created to the disadvantage of the freedom of trade (tariff, taxes.. etc.)
• Accused China of violating the terms of its entry into the World Trade Organization, while thanking it for its role in ameliorating the tensions between America and North Korea; and
• The primacy of national sovereignty which he favors over globalization intended to harmonize between cross-border relationship and national interest.

It was last year that Trump from the UN GA rostrum that he threatened to wipe North Korea off the map. But this year, his old threats turned to utter praise for the North Korea president. Trump's floating hostility turned this year to Iran and Venezuela. In defiance of plain truth, the unhinged American President states that the Iran nuclear deal was a embarrassment to the US and that Venezuela needed a new leadership.

Lying through his teeth, he insinuated that many countries supported his unilateral opting out of the six-party Iran nuclear deal. Not so by any means. The International Atomic Energy Agency, through its inspectors, supported Iran's assertion of living up to the terms of that deal. And France, Germany, the UK, China and Russia have manifested their incredulity about the American claims. Breaking international deals is not the kind of action to be lauded at the UN GA annual summit.

It was impossible to square the Trump's call for respect of national sovereignty and the emphasis on self defense, with his declared threats against Venezuela and its leadership. Trump had no regard for the right of Venezuela to choose "socialism" over capitalism. His disparaging remarks flew in the face of the UN Charter emphasis on non-intervention in internal affairs.

Trump's message was a blatant return to gunboat diplomacy through the advocacy of a reborn Monroe doctrine (Monroeism) under which South America had been regarded as an American protectorate. Obviously he did not take account the fact that the president of this 73rd session of the General Assembly was a fine lady diplomat from Ecuador.

More of Trump's contradictions before the world body:

• His false claim that Germany shall soon by over-dependent upon Russian national gas for its energy needs. This is while the American President has, since inauguration, done his best to avoid criticizing Russia for anything, including its alleged intervention in the 2016 American election. Thus his untoward remarks about German dependency hit in 3 ways: German purported weakness; Russian politicization of its exports; and infringement of domestic affairs of two sovereign States.
• Trump's call on States to pay for the cost of their own defense, while proclaiming that America's might shall also serve the needs of its "friends and allies." No allusion to who are his or America's "friends and allies," in view of his "America First" policy.
• Trump's implied disparagement of the administration of his predecessors through his claims that America has never before seen such rates of economic growth as compared to the pre-Trump era. He has ignored the historic fact that President Obama has, in 2008, inherited an economic mess which threatened even the car industry.

Trump's emphasis on going it alone overlooks the historic fact that America, since 1945 and without allies has not won any wars: not in Korea, not in Vietnam, not in Afghanistan. Denigrating NATO, the shield that had held western Europe safe from Soviet encroachment, has been Trump's signature European policy.

And his call for observance of the right of peoples to sovereignty and prosperity flies in the face of his dealing with the Palestinian people's plight under Israeli occupation, including his recognition of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.

His claims to respect of the Rule of aw could not be supported by his own disregard for the US Constitution, nor by his denigration of the US Department of Justice, nor by his executive orders relating to the Muslim bans regarding immigration to the US, nor of the first Amendment of the US Constitution in regard to the freedom of expression. For in a fascist vein, he has described the US media and even journalists as "Enemy of the People."

It was a bad day for America at the UN -a forum which was largely created by the US. The UN Charter compares in many ways to the principles and values enunciated by or implicit in the US Constitution. 

The world laughed aloud at America, as represented by Trump. That occurred when he said: "In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of my country." Trump's nemesis, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani seemed to have the last laugh as he pointed out another contradiction: "It is ironic that the United States government does not even conceal its plan for overthrowing the same government it invites to talk."

Trump is nothing but a reality terminator. As the UN laughed at him, he confessed from the General Assembly rostrum that that laughter was not the reaction which he expected. But the following day, the reality terminator had a different interpretation. "They were laughing with me." Really? If so, why was there no applause?! Trump's brain seems to process realities as if to shield himself from reality.

In an op ed article in the New York Times of September 28, 2018, Susan Rice, former US Ambassador to the UN during the Obama presidency, said: "In these troubling times, up is down, black is white, and America stands alone, reckless ridiculed, among the nations of the world."