Trump boasts about his government at UN, gets laughed at
What's the story
US President Donald Trump's deepest fears have come true. For someone who's been obsessed with people laughing at US presidents since the mid-80s, Trump was left embarrassed after attendees to the UN General Assembly started laughing at his government's purported achievements. Yet, despite being volatile and ill-tempered, the President dealt with the situation with relative grace, saying that he meant it. Here's more.
Fears
Trump had always feared getting laughed at
Since the mid-80s, Donald Trump has been saying things along the lines of 'The world is laughing at us. They think we're fools'. In 2014, Trump had tweeted that other nations were taking advantage of the US, and that the US was a "laughing stock to the entire World". Indeed, Trump's own candidacy was meant to change that. Alas, it wasn't to be.
Twitter Post
Evidently, Trump isn't the President he wanted
We need a President who isn't a laughing stock to the entire World. We need a truly great leader, a genius at strategy and winning. Respect!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2014
Laughter
The speech that saw Trump getting laughed at
On Tuesday, during his speech at the UN General Assembly, Trump boasted, "my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country". Just as the words left Trump's mouth, the audience broke into audible laughter. Startled but undeterred, Trump said, "Didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay", and continued with his speech that lasted a lengthy 34 minutes.
More laughter
German delegates also laughed at Trump
But, that wasn't all. During Trump's speech, the German delegation was seen laughing at the US President, after Trump said that Germany would become "totally dependent" on Russian energy if they didn't "immediately change course". Social media wasn't kind to Trump either, with his critics pointing out the devolution of American presidents from setting the agenda at the UN to getting laughed at.
Twitter Post
WATCH: The world laughs at Donald Trump
And here is Germany literally laughing at Trump after he says the country could become totally dependent on Russian energy pic.twitter.com/1NLa99tGLN
— Marcus Gilmer (@marcusgilmer) September 25, 2018
Reality check
The moment marked an important reality check for President Trump
Everything said and done, it was an important reality check for Trump, who is no stranger to making fallacious claims. Trump's claim that his administration had accomplished more than any of the 44 administrations preceding him, was just another to add to his collection of fibs - since taking office, Trump, according to Washington Post fact-checkers, has made over 5,000 false or misleading statements.
Comments
Trump seems to think his speech went "great"
Speaking to reporters afterwards, the US President said that he thought his UN speech went "great", had received "good reviews", and "was meant to get some laughter". While it was an even-keeled response from the President following an embarrassing moment, Trump seems to be confused about general 'laughter' and getting 'laughed at'. For sure, getting laughed at on the world stage cannot be "great".