*By Carlo Versano*
One year after his "fire and fury" speech that threatened North Korea and its "little rocket man" leader with annihilation, President Trump addressed the annual United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, expanding on his "America First" motto and replacing North Korea with Iran as the main antagonist.
Trump said that the sanctions the U.S. imposed on Iran after pulling out of the nuclear deal have hurt the "corrupt dictatorship," while the president substantially softened his tone on North Korea ー which, according to Trump, has taken a "number of encouraging measures" since he last appeared in front of the body.
While North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has not launched a missile test since his June meeting with Trump in Singapore, there is little evidence that the regime has made meaningful steps toward denuclearization.
Trump also referenced OPEC, saying the cartel is "ripping off the rest of the world" by keeping oil prices high. The group has been reluctant to increase supply, and along with impending U.S. sanctions against Iranian crude exports, oil has risen to a four-year high.
But perhaps the most notable thread of Trump's UN address was an apparent change to the country's foreign aid policy.
"Moving forward, we're only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends," Trump said. That would be a major difference in how America has thought of aid in the post-war era, when it has been seen as a measure of altruism and an extension of diplomacy ー not something transactional.
For an administration that often views foreign policy in stark terms, Trump's speech stayed largely on message.
He rejected globalism and praised sovereignty, viewing the ideologies as mutually exclusive. At one point, he praised his White House for accomplishing "more than almost any administration in the history of our country," a statement that drew chuckles from the assembled world leaders.
"I didn't expect that reaction," Trump said, veering momentarily off script.
President Donald Trump is hitting foreign steel and aluminum with a 25% tax. If that sounds familiar, it’s because he did pretty much the same thing during
President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. to stop minting pennies. His surprise announcement comes after decades of unsuccessful efforts to phase out the 1-cent coin. Advocates for ditching the penny cite its high production cost and limited utility. Fans of the penny cite its usefulness in charity drives and relative bargain in production costs compared with the nickel. Here's a look at some question surrounding Trump's order.
The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down the agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Russell Vought is the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought directed the CFPB in a Saturday night email to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama created it following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
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