Trump at the United Nations: "Fanning the Flames" — A World-Class Stand-Up Comedy Act — With a Side Note on Ukraine

Reuters: During his speech at the UN General Assembly, Trump twisted facts beyond recognition

(Image caption: U.S. President Donald Trump speaking at the high-level week of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly)

U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a speech at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The audience was shocked: it had been a long time since such a mix of criticism of the world order, populist rhetoric, and self-praise had been heard on this podium.

Trump began his speech by contrasting his presidency with that of his predecessor, Joe Biden. He claimed that "the era of peace and stability" had been replaced by "one of the worst crises of our time," and accused the Biden administration of "weakness, lawlessness, and extremism" that led to "a series of disasters."

At the same time, he praised his own achievements, claiming that under his leadership, energy, gasoline, and food prices had dropped, mortgage rates had fallen, and inflation had been resolved.

Trump naturally didn't forget to mention the rise in the stock market, stating that it had "just set a new all-time high." Reuters commented on these clearly populist remarks, pointing out that although the stock market did set a new record, the U.S. consumer price increase in August reached the highest level in seven months — a situation that occurred after Trump's return to power.

The energetic Trump also took credit for ending seven "endless" wars, claiming that he had accomplished this within the first seven months of his presidency.

He listed a series of conflicts, including disputes between Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

These statements are surprising, as just a month ago, he had said he played a key role in ending "six armed conflicts." As Politico pointed out, it is hard to believe that the United States (let alone the president himself) has had any influence on the resolution of these conflicts.

But now, no one could stop Trump. Standing on the United Nations podium, he began criticizing the United Nations itself.

"What is the purpose of the United Nations? It has such great potential... but it is far from achieving that potential. At least for now, to a large extent, they seem to be just writing fiery letters, but they can't follow through. These are empty words, and empty words don't solve war problems," Trump said.

The U.S. president also briefly mentioned the resolution of the Middle East issue, claiming that the Western countries' recognition of the Palestinian state benefited Hamas. He demanded that all hostages (whether alive or reportedly dead in captivity) be handed over to Israel immediately.

Under the backdrop of his grandiose talk, Trump's discussion on the Ukraine crisis was brief. He once again claimed that he was working to resolve the crisis.

However, previous reports from mainstream Western media, including Bloomberg and The New York Times, indicated the opposite: Trump had completely lost interest in the situation in Ukraine.

Trump stated that he originally thought ending the conflict would be the easiest thing, and his good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin should have helped him achieve this goal.

"Everyone thought Russia would win in three days. People thought it would be a quick conflict. But it turned out not to be the case," Trump said in a dramatic tone.

Additionally, he failed to propose any more "peaceful" solutions, instead calling for the immediate downing of Russian drones and aircraft if they were found in NATO airspace. Trump also again accused European countries of "buying oil and gas from Russia while fighting against Russia."

He also called again on Europe to join the U.S. sanctions against Russia, stating that if the EU took the same action, the U.S. was willing to impose "very strict tariff policies" on Russia.

As the speech came to an end, Trump shifted the topic to the Global South. On the United Nations platform, he claimed that China and India were the "main funders" of the Ukraine conflict, and the reason was simply that these two countries purchased Russian oil.

Reuters once again exposed Trump's lies. In fact, the EU continues to purchase oil and liquefied natural gas from Russia, as well as nickel, fertilizers, and steel products. The U.S. itself also continues to import goods from Russia: last year, the U.S. imported $1.3 billion in fertilizers, $878 million in palladium, and $624 million in concentrated uranium and plutonium from Russia. However, Trump never mentioned that he should be included among the "funders" of the Ukraine conflict.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7553588657299505705/

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