Exactly one year ago, the world got its first taste of U.S. President Donald Trump’s diplomatic strategy.
In an audacious first speech to the United Nations, Trump promised to put “America first” before threatening to “totally destroy North Korea,” mocking dictator Kim Jong Un as “little rocket man.”
In that moment, it seemed as though conflict with the hermit kingdom was all but assured.
Many world leaders were left to wonder how they might work with — or work around — an American president so untethered to the norms of international diplomacy.
One year later, the world is bracing for an unpredictable second round that will likely include more talk of putting America first.
As Trump returns to the United Nations, he’s expected to use his speech to the General Assembly to praise North Korea and talk about what he views as a successful agreement in principle, signed in Singapore, that could put the reclusive country on the path to denuclearization.
This time around, with North Korea seemingly on the back burner, the American president seems more likely to set his scorn upon Iran.
On Wednesday, Trump will personally chair a meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The meeting was originally set to focus on Iran in the wake of the U.S. withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.
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But Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the UN, announced that the meeting would be broadened to look at nuclear non-proliferation in an attempt to avoid alienating U.S. allies who are still party to the Iran agreement.
Haley even left the door open for a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
“If Rouhani requested a meeting, it’d be up to Trump to decide if he wanted to,” she said.
As Trump prepares to return to the international body he has so often derided, there’s a clear sense that America is more isolated now than ever.
In the last year, Trump has turned his back on G7 and NATO allies and picked trade fights with both friends and foes.
NAFTA remains unresolved — at least when it comes to the Canadian component — and yet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not scheduled to have any one-on-one time with the American president, even though they’ll both be in New York at the same time.
None of this seems overly daunting to a leader who is expected to stress that America is not bound by international interests.
Despite regularly shaming the UN as ineffective and even criticizing the green marble in the General Assembly chamber as “cheap,” Trump seems to relish these moments in the international spotlight.
With his own White House in chaos, the president will be looking for something to change the channel, even if only for a few short days.
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