MICHAEL RUSSELL

Opinion: Trump sounds like a leader in his UN speech

Sep 19, 2017, 4:02 PM | Updated: Sep 20, 2017, 11:27 am

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)...

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

I wanted to share a few of my quick takeaways from President Donald Trump’s Tuesday morning speech at the United Nations:

Tone

Obviously, President Trump was reading from teleprompters. He did not go off script and he nailed the intended tone of the message.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was what a leader sounds like.

You can say all you want about Trump and his tweets, his rallies or when he goes off-script. But you have to tip your hat to this speech because it was what a president should sound like.

The president was not speaking diplomatically. The president was speaking with a very authoritative tone and that was refreshing.

How many times have you or someone you are speaking to refer to the President of the United States as “the most powerful man in the world?”

If that is true, Trump showed Tuesday how a leader should speak. There was no such thing as Obama’s leading from behind nonsense.

Message

President Trump doubled and tripled down on his America-first agenda. And, of course, this offended most people in the world and the media.

His message was very clear: As a leader of a nation, his first responsibility and priority is that nation. Every world leader should have the same attitude about their nation.

That was almost a mic drop moment because there’s no argument. Every leader should be concerned about their nation first and foremost.

And he had the right tone in regards to the UN as well: Get back to your mission of peace and prosperity.

Iran and the Rocket Man

The president hinted at a withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal. Just as he should.

This was a terrible deal for the United States. Of course, he will get flack as he did for withdrawing from the Paris accord.

Did you notice how all is calm on the Paris accord story? Right. Because it shined a light on what a terrible deal it was.

The same will be true if the president removes us from the Iranian nuclear agreement. The president of Iran is already showing his hand by threatening the United States and claiming that no world leader will ever trust the U.S. to negotiate with them again.

Good. Watch how we negotiate with North Korea.

Oh yes, that brings us to the Rocket Man, as Trump again called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un today.

Trump put the world on notice. Yes, he used language that we are not used to hearing from a president, but that’s a good thing.

Tell me how far diplomacy got with North Korea over the past decades. In case you have been hiding under a rock for the past few months, you might have noticed that it now has missiles capable of hitting the U.S. and our allies.

Diplomacy has done nothing but buy them time to get stronger and more aggressive.

Whether you agree or not, Trump has issued a stern warning and he delivered that warning while looking other world leaders directly in the eyes.

Like a leader.

Michael Russell

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Opinion: Trump sounds like a leader in his UN speech