--- title: Trump Defends 'America First' Policy in U.N. Speech description: President Donald Trump told the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday that "wise leaders always put the good of their own people ... first." canonical: https://time.com/5684890/trump-un-address-america-first/ author: Madeleine Carlisle article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-24T15:47:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:26:04.129Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Defends 'America First' Policy in U.N. Speech, Says the Future Belongs to 'Patriots' Over 'Globalists' og:description: So far, Trump’s time at the U.N. has been a lonely one og:url: https://time.com/5684890/trump-un-address-america-first/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bc3d5267a8cd385/698a035db21a9c57375026a4/trump-u-n-address.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: trump u.n. address og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Defends 'America First' Policy in U.N. Speech, Says the Future Belongs to 'Patriots' Over 'Globalists' twitter:description: So far, Trump’s time at the U.N. has been a lonely one twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bc3d5267a8cd385/698a035db21a9c57375026a4/trump-u-n-address.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Defends 'America First' Policy in U.N. Speech, Says the Future Belongs to 'Patriots' Over 'Globalists'  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Sep 24, 2019 3:47 PM UTC  US President Donald Trump speaks during the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, September 24, 2019. US President Donald Trump speaks during the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, September 24, 2019.LUDOVIC MARIN—AFP/Getty Images  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Sep 24, 2019 3:47 PM UTC In his third-ever address to the [United Nations](https://time.com/tag/united-nations/) General Assembly, President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/tag/donald-trump/) spoke in support of his administration’s “America First” policies, arguing that the future belongs to “patriots” over “globalists.” Speaking before the U.N.’s 193-member body, Trump used his platform to argue in favor of his Administration’s withdrawal from multiple internationally agreed-upon treaties, including the [Iran nuclear deal](https://time.com/tag/iran-nuclear-deal/) and the [United Nations Arms Trade Treaty](http://world.time.com/2013/09/26/the-real-news-at-the-u-n-u-s-signs-arms-trade-treaty/). “Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first,” he said. “The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.” President Trump [pulled out](https://time.com/4951450/president-trumps-iran-deal-decision/) of the Iran nuclear deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — in May of 2018\. The deal was one of the [principal diplomatic achievements](https://time.com/3979692/obama-grassroots-iran-deal/) of the Obama administration, agreed upon with six countries: The U.S., France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia. In exchange for Iran restricting its ability to develop nuclear weapons, sanctions against the country would lessen. Trump had long been critical of the deal, [arguing](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/us/politics/trump-speech-iran-deal.html) it would not successfully prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. Since the U.S. has withdrawn from the treaty and intensified sanctions on Tehran — going against the wishes of key U.S. allies France, Germany, and the U.K. — [tensions between the two countries](https://time.com/5683186/iran-us-tensions-saudi-oil-attack/) have risen and [intensified](https://time.com/5684433/britain-blames-iran-saudi-oil-attacks/) in recent months. In April, Trump [announced](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/26/trump-nra-united-nations-arms-treaty-gun-control) that the U.S. would withdraw its support of the Arms Trade Treaty [in a speech before the National Rifle Association](https://time.com/5578963/donald-trump-arms-trade-treaty/). The treaty, which went into effect in 2014, regulates international trade of conventional weapons, including small arms. The NRA has long argued that it posed a threat against the Second Amendment. Democratic leaders condemned the move, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Senator Bob Menendez, who said in [a statement](https://twitter.com/SenatorMenendez/status/1121823610409291777/photo/1), “The Arms Trade Treaty has no impact on Americans’ Second Amendment rights, nor imposes any restrictions on U.S. arms exports… it is disturbing to see this administration turn back the clock on the little progress we have made to prevent illicit arms transfers.” Trump’s foreign policy approach has repeatedly pushed back against multilateralism: He has also withdrawn from the [Paris Climate Agreement](http://www.thedrive.com/opinion/11066/president-trump-dumps-paris-climate-agreement), [UNESCO](https://time.com/4980034/unesco-trump-us-leaving-history/), negotiations on the [Global Compact on Migration](https://time.com/5473969/mary-robinson-un-migration-compact-marrakesh/), and the [U.N.’s Human Rights Council](https://time.com/4806801/nikki-haley-human-rights-council-israel/). So far, Trump’s time at the U.N. has been a [lonely one](https://time.com/5684134/for-trump-its-lonely-going-it-alone/). He briefly stopped by the main hall of the U.N. to discuss [global climate change](https://time.com/5669069/time-climate-change-issue/), but then headed to a separate meeting on global violations of religious freedoms. He is scheduled to spend much of his three days at the U.N. in one-on-one meetings with other leaders. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5684890/trump-un-address-america-first/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5684890/trump-un-address-america-first/"},"headline":"Trump Defends 'America First' Policy in U.N. Speech, Says the Future Belongs to 'Patriots' Over 'Globalists'","datePublished":"2019-09-24T15:47:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:26:04.129Z","description":"So far, Trump’s time at the U.N. has been a lonely one","url":"https://time.com/5684890/trump-un-address-america-first/","keywords":["United Nations","trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bc3d5267a8cd385/698a035db21a9c57375026a4/trump-u-n-address.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeleine Carlisle","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bc3d5267a8cd385/698a035db21a9c57375026a4/trump-u-n-address.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump u.n. address","caption":"trump u.n. address","creditText":"LUDOVIC MARIN—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/united-nations/","name":"United Nations"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5684890/trump-un-address-america-first/","name":"Trump Defends 'America First' Policy in U.N. Speech, Says the Future Belongs to 'Patriots' Over 'Globalists'"}}]}] ```