UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s appearance at the U.N. General Assembly (all times local):
10:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump is holding up the whole world.
Trump ran a bit late for his once-a-year speech at the U.N. General Assembly, forcing organizers to change the order of speakers.
Trump was scheduled to speak second at Tuesday’s session, after Brazilian President Michel Temer. Instead, Temer’s speech was followed by an awkward pause as U.N. officials prepared the podium to accommodate the No. 3 speaker, Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno Garces, who is in a wheelchair.
Trump’s motorcade arrived during Garces’ speech at the U.N. headquarters in New York. The White House did not immediately explain why Trump was late.
Trump’s “America First” policies and criticism of allies have clashed with the multilateral spirit of the U.N. General Assembly.
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7:40 a.m.
President Donald Trump says he has no plans to meet this week with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (hah-SAHN’ roh-HAH’-nee) “despite requests.”
Both leaders are attending an annual U.N. gathering in New York. Trump wasn’t specific in Tuesday’s tweet about the origin of the “requests” for a meeting.
But Rouhani also has ruled out meeting, telling NBC News on Monday conditions are not ripe for talks. The Iranian leader accuses the U.S. of adopting a hostile stance toward his country.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from a nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers and reinstated economic sanctions on Iran. Trump says in the tweet that “Maybe someday in the future” he and Rouhani will meet.
Trump says: “I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man!”
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12:40 a.m.
President Donald Trump returns to the pinnacle of global diplomacy when he addresses the U.N. General Assembly.
Ahead of his speech Tuesday morning, White House aides cast Trump’s New York visit as an opportunity to assert American sovereignty before the multinational body.
He is expected to be unapologetic about his decisions to engage with the erstwhile pariah North Korea, remove the U.S. from the Iran nuclear accord, and object to U.N. aid programs he believes are contrary to American interests.
On Wednesday, Trump will chair for the first time a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the topic of counter-proliferation.
The four days of choreographed foreign affairs stand in contrast to wild twists and disorder in domestic politics, highlighted by the controversy over Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.
