"What for? The "failed experiment of open borders," according to the president. Never mind the fact that some countries represented in the room-such as, say, the Solomon Islands-don't receive very many immigrants at all, and that leaders have profoundly diverging views about the long-term effects of mass immigration. The irony was lost on Trump; his address demonstrated what happens when an "America First" president engages with the rest of the world."
"Trump spoke for almost an hour (well past his 15-minute limit) in a speech that oscillated between bombast and blithe nihilism. He grumbled about the building's terrazzo floors, complained that the teleprompter had broken down before his speech, and repeatedly mentioned that an escalator I'd been on had stopped short. ("These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter.") He also falsely claimed sole credit for ending seven wars, and at one point suggested that radical environmentalists "want to kill all the cows.""
President Trump addressed the United Nations with a combative message that branded open borders a failed experiment and warned that other countries were "going to hell." The speech mixed policy claims with offhand complaints and personal anecdotes about a broken teleprompter and a stopped escalator. The address included demonstrably false assertions, attribution of sole credit for ending wars, and misleading attacks on climate action and London. The audience responded politely, chuckling at ad libs rather than erupting in derision. The overall tone contrasted an asserted American "golden age" with portrayed global decline.
Read at The Atlantic
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