In a pointed rejection of President Donald Trump's "America first" approach to foreign policy, French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday urged world leaders to join together to confront global challenges, including war, terrorism, immigration and climate change.
"Today, more than ever, we need multilateralism," Macron said in his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly. "Why? Because our challenges are global."
Macron said he "profoundly respects" Trump's decision to withdraw from a landmark agreement reached in Paris in 2015 to fight global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But although he said the deal could be improved, he emphasized, "This accord will not be renegotiated."
"The future of the world is that of our planet, which is in the process of taking its revenge against the foolishness of men," he said, referring to recent hurricanes that brought devastation to parts of the Caribbean, Texas and Florida.
Macron's appeal for collective action and dialogue between nations was in sharp contrast to a speech delivered by Trump, in which he decried a landmark nuclear disarmament deal reached with Iran in 2015 as "an embarrassment to the United States" and threatened North Korea with "total destruction."
North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests present the world with an "existential" threat, Macron said. "Our responsibility, with all our partners, including China, is to bring it back to the negotiating table."
Macron hailed the agreement reached between Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., as a "solid, robust and verifiable" way to ensure the Islamic Republic does not also arm itself with nuclear weapons.
"To denounce it would be a grave error," he said. "Because it is a good deal, essential to peace at a time where the risk of an infernal spiral cannot be excluded."
