President Trump spoke ominously about mass immigration and the threat of Islamic terrorism in a major speech Thursday morning in Warsaw, Poland, in advance of the G-20 summit and his first meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. From the New York Times:
“The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive,” he said, employing the same life-or-death language as in his inauguration speech, which promised a war against the “American carnage” of urban crime. “Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?”
Mr. Trump also decried “the steady creep of government bureaucracy that drains the vitality and wealth of the people,” citing the value of individual freedom and sovereignty, in front of an audience that was composed in part of loyalists bused in for the occasion.
Trump also dived deeply into Polish history. “[I]n 1939, you were invaded, yet again,” he said to the crowd. “This time by Nazi Germany from the West and the Soviet Union from the east. That’s trouble. That’s tough.”
The speech followed a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, during which Trump told reporters that North Korea could face “severe” but unspecifed consequences for its recent missile test.* “President Duda and I call on all nations to confront this global threat and publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences for their very, very bad behavior,” he said.
Trump was also asked about the CNN wrestling GIF controversy in an exchange during which he called CNN, once again, “fake news.” “NBC is equally as bad,” he said, “despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice, but they forgot that.”
*Correction, July 6, 2017: This post originally misspelled Andrzej Duda’s first name.
