Donald Trump vows to ‘totally destroy’ North Korea if it doesn’t relent, says Kim is ‘on a suicide mission’
US President Donald Trump has used his maiden speech at the United Nations to promise to “totally destroy” North Korea if it doesn’t relent.
Mr Trump described North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a “rocket man” who is “on a suicide mission for himself’ in the much-anticipated speech.
Beginning his speech shortly after arriving at U.N. headquarters in New York, Trump said the world faces destructive threats from rogue states and “terrorists and extremists.”
“Rogue regimes not only support terrorists but threaten other nations with the most destructive weapon known to humanity,” Trump said, referring to nuclear weapons.
He urged member states to turn up the pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
It was Trump’s first appearance in the green-marbled U.N. General Assembly hall, where applause from world leaders is generally muted.
Reading carefully from a script, Trump promised the United States military would soon be the strongest it has ever been.
Trump, who came to power promoting an America First agenda, told world leaders that the United States does not seek to impose its will on other nations and will respect other countries’ sovereignty.
“I will defend America’s interests above all else,” he said. “But in fulfilling our obligations to other nations we also realize it’s in everyone’s interest to seek a future where all nations can be sovereign, prosperous and secure.”
He has also told the UN the Iranian government is an “economically depleted rogue state” whose chief export is violence.
More to follow
Reuters
