A LEADING Democratic Party senator has condemned President Trump, accusing him of using the peaceful forum of the United Nations as a “stage to threaten war”.
Dianne Feinstein, who represents California, said the General Assembly was normally a place to “foster peace and promote global cooperation”.
She said: “The goals of the UN are to foster peace and promote global cooperation. Today, the president used it as a stage to threaten war.”
Mrs Feinstein also criticised the US President’s rhetoric on North Korea.
She said: “Trump’s bombastic threat to destroy North Korea and his refusal to present any positive pathways forward on the many global challenges we face are severe disappointments.
“He aims to unify the world through tactics of intimidation, but in reality he only further isolates the United States.”
In return, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted Barack Obama’s remarks from a 2016 TV interview in which he said that the US “could, obviously, destroy North Korea with our arsenals”.
And Mr Trump did have some allies for his speech.
Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who was critical of Mr Trump during last year’s presidential election, said he had delivered a “strong and needed challenge” to the UN assembly “to live up to its charter and to confront global challenges”.
Israeli’s right-wing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed Mr Trump on Iran, with the US President saying the Iranian government “masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy.
He also described its chief exports are “violence, bloodshed and chaos.”
Mr Netanyahu added: “In over 30 years in my experience with the UN, I never heard a bolder or more courageous speech.
“President Trump spoke the truth about the great dangers facing our world and issued a powerful call to confront them to ensure the future of humanity.”
However, congressman Mark Takano, of California, wrote on Twitter Mr Trump’s speech was “shockingly reckless,” arguing that Trump’s call to “totally destroy North Korea” would cost millions of lives.
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