During U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial address at the United Nations Tuesday, Canada’s prime minister didn’t get mentioned. Justin Trudeau should be grateful — it’s hard to say which is worse, being praised or criticized by the erratic American president.
In his self-serving speech, Trump explicitly condemned countries such as North Korea, Iran and Venezuela for their alleged anti-democratic and human-rights abuses. In citing positive roles played by other countries, he included Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Britain, and even China and Russia.
Trump was highly critical of the allegedly dangerous roles of many international leaders, especially North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, whom Trump denounced contemptuously as “Rocket Man” and warned bluntly that if Kim didn’t end his perceived missile threat, the U.S. would destroy North Korea.
While that threat in the presence of the world’s assembled leaders might not surprise many in the U.S. — especially the countless thousands who regularly take to the streets to denounce Trump and call for him to resign — such explicit threats by Trump will reinforce growing concern that he is a serious threat not only to American democracy, but also the entire international community.
However, Trump’s threat to destroy North Korea hasn’t been echoed by other governments; even fellow NATO members such as Belgium continue to call for a non-military solution to the tension created by Pyongyang’s continued nuclear and intercontinental missile tests.
When asked whether his government would support military action against North Korea as threatened by Trump, France’s President Emmanuel Macron repeated that France supported a peaceful resolution with Pyongyang. He said he intended to stress to Trump that such an approach was the best way to reach an agreement.
Macron also indicated he supported the current deal with Iran involving restrictions on that country’s nuclear program.
However, Trump, who detests former U.S. president Barack Obama, denounced the deal as the “worst” negotiated by a U.S. government, implying he was determined to terminate it.
(There’s a widespread belief Trump is determined to cancel or undermine any significant laws or measures implemented by Obama, especially Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act.)
While Trump was quick to denounce North Korea, Iran and Venezuela, as well as Cuba, for their lack of democracy and human rights, he conveniently ignored criticism of governments accused of restricting human rights and freedom of the press.
One of those is Turkey, where the largest numbers of journalists in the world are imprisoned on dubious charges and thousands of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents have been imprisoned following a failed military putsch. Those include teachers, police, medical personnel, Kurdish politicians and civil servants.
Despite the fact Erdogan has been accused by Russia and others of concealing assistance to extremist groups such as ISIS, and Erdogan’s own son assisted ISIS ship oil to outside markets, Trump warmly welcomed Erdogan to Washington and stated his desire to broaden relations.
Paradoxically, in his UN address, Trump stressed his support for the autocratic Saudi rulers in fighting against terrorist groups such as ISIS, while conveniently ignoring that the ruling Saudi elite bans democracy and restricts the rights of women.
Trump also ignored the international condemnation of the Saudi rulers for sentencing human rights activist Raif Badawi to 10 years imprisonment and 1,000 public lashings for criticizing the role of Saudi Arabia’s ultra-extreme Wahhabi version of Islam for severely restricting human rights. (Badawi’s family fled to Montreal for their safety.)
When considering the divisive actions and policies of Trump, it would be timely to consider a recent statement issued by a large group of American psychiatrists and mental-health specialists.
In their view, any individual with the personality and documented erratic performance attributed to Trump should never be entrusted to deal with any serious or important issues that could adversely affect the lives of other people.
That man is now in a position during the current NAFTA trade negotiations to determine the trade and economic future of Canada.
Harry Sterling, a former diplomat, is an Ottawa-based commentator.
