United Nations: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday told world leaders that it is time to “expose” and “hold responsible” those countries that provide funding and safe havens to terror groups, weeks after he warned Pakistan for supporting “agents of chaos.”
In his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said that all responsible nations must work together to confront terrorists and “the Islamic extremist that inspires them.”
“We will stop radical Islamic terrorism, because we cannot allow it to tear up our nation and, indeed, to tear up the entire world,” he said.
“It is time to expose and hold responsible” nations that provide funding and safe havens to terror groups, Mr Trump said without naming any country. He said countries must deny the terrorists safe havens, transit, funding and any form of support for their “vile and sinister ideology”.
“We must drive them out from our nations. It is time to expose and hold those responsible those countries who support and finance terror groups like al-Qaeda, Hezabollah and the Taliban and others,” he said.
The US President said America and its allies were working together to crush the terrorists and prevent the re-emergence of safe heavens they use to launch attacks.
He also vowed to pursue his “America first” nationalist policy and said that all nations should act in their own self-interest, yet rally together when faced with a common threat.
In his maiden speech, Mr Trump laid out his vision of a world order based on strong “sovereign nations” rather than multilateral alliances.
The Trump administration, he said, is renewing founding principle of sovereignty. “Our government’s first duty is to its people, to our citizens, to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights and to defend their values,” he said.
As to Iran, Mr Trump appeared to pave the way towards tearing up the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between six world powers and Iran.
He said the accord had failed to rein in the regime’s subversive role in Middle East conflicts, and sent a clear signal that he intends to declare Tehran in breach of the deal when he reports to Congress next month.
“We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilising activities while building dangerous missiles and we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program,” he told the UN General Assembly.
