REVIEW - Trump At UNGA Slams International Institutions, Threatens Cuts Amid Fears Of US Isolation

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) US President Donald Trump warned the UN General Assembly (UNGA) that the United States would continue to reduce support for several international economic, political and human rights institutions in a speech domestic critics said single-handedly undermined America's standing in the world, while supporters said it displayed leadership.

Trump's frontal assault on international institutions comes after one of his national security advisers earlier this month threatened to prosecute international judges that dare investigate potential war crimes committed by US personnel. On Monday, a coalition of rights groups called on the UN to take action against the Trump administration's threats.

Other examples of US criticism and rolling back support for world bodies include the decision to pull out of the UN Human Rights Council and slamming the World Trade Organization (WTO) for accusing the United States of exaggerating data in its trade dispute with China.

On Tuesday, Trump during his speech to the UNGA targeted international bodies and institutions that deal with a wide range of global problems related to human rights, world trade, migration, international courts, and peacekeeping.

"Many nations in this hall would agree that the world trading system is in dire need of change," Trump said. "For example, countries were admitted to the World Trade Organization that violate every single principle on which the organization is based."

Trump also slammed the International Criminal Court (ICC), telling the UNGA that the United States will never surrender its sovereignty by supporting the UN-backed body.

"As far as America is concerned the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority," Trump said.

The United States will also continue to remain out of the UN Human Rights Commission unless the body enacts a reform agenda submitted by US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Trump said.

In addition, Trump said the United States will be reviewing all of its foreign assistance programs and will only be contributing aid to countries that are respectful and friendly.

Trump said the United States will not pay more than 25 percent of the UN Peace Keeping budget and demanded other countries contribute more.

The US president also said the United States would not be part of the new global compact on migration.

With respect to global energy markets, Trump said OPEC and its member countries must start lowering oil prices and start contributing financially to their own defense.

The United States remains committed to maintaining its energy independence from any foreign country and is ready to export oil, coal and gas, Trump said.

Trump warned countries about codependence using Germany's imports from Russia as an example.

On Trade, Trump singled out China, stressing that the United States can no longer tolerate China's market distortions or the way the country conducts its trade deals.

Trump in addition to threatening cut backs to world institutions also sent stern messages to Iran and Syria.

Before his address, Trump told reporters the United States will be ready to begin political dialogue with Iran once its government changes its behavior.

"Iran has to change its tune before I meet with them. They want to meet.

It will happen. We look forward to having a great relationship with Iran but it won't happen now," Trump said.

Trump during his address said the United States requests all countries to isolate the government of Iran until it changes its behavior.

The United States will impose more sanctions against Tehran after November 5 when Washington resumes oil sanctions previously lifted under the Iran nuclear deal, Trump noted.

After the speech, a senior adviser to Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei said the top cleric would never meet with Trump.

On Syria, Trump said any political solution to the crisis must address what he called Iran's "dictatorship," which supports the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Trump reaffirmed that the United States will respond to any chemical attack in Syria by the Assad administration and called for the reinvigoration of the UN-led peace process.

The United States will continue its fight against the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) terrorist group in Syria, Trump said while underscoring the need to de-escalate the conflict in the country.

Trump also thanked North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un for his willingness to cooperate on achieving full and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

However, Trump warned, the sanctions against Pyongyang will remain in place until that goal is reached.

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel said Trump's UN General Assembly speech undermined much of what the United States helped build on the international stage.

"It remains deeply unsettling to see an American president stand before the United Nations - a body in which American leadership has changed the course of the world for decades - and espouse a worldview that undermines so much of what we helped build on the global stage," Engel said in a press release after Trump's speech.

America's standing in the world, Engel added, has plummeted in the past 20 months and Trump's blustery and bullying UNGA speech will serve only to isolate the United States even further.

Human Rights First's Senior Vice President for Policy Rob Berschinski said Trump's attacks on the UN Human Rights Council and ICC showed that the United States is no longer in the business of improving flawed international bodies.

Berschinski added that the president's rejection of the Global Compact on Migration is yet another indication that this administration will not lead internationally.

"Trump's overly simplistic and distorted view of 'sovereignty' will be music to the ears of authoritarian leaders from Moscow to Beijing," Berschinski said.

US Republican Senator David Perdue expressed a different sentiment, saying that Trump's speech displayed strength.

"Today, President Trump sent a strong message to all sovereign nations: the United States will not tolerate expansionist foreign powers, will fight against human trafficking, and will partner worldwide to tackle the global drug crisis," Perdue said in a press release.

Trump, Perdue added, reiterated that the United States will never allow Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terror, to possess a nuclear weapon.

In addition, Perdue said the US administration has made major strides on improving accountability and transparency at the United Nations.