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President Trump drinks from a glass of wine after proposing a toast at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 19 (Xinhua/Yonhap News)

US President Donald Trump’s first speech before the UN General Assembly on September 19 has drawn heavy criticism both domestically and abroad for the use of expressions such as “depraved regime,” “band of criminals” and “totally destroy” in reference to North Korea. Presidential aides are now desperately trying to rectify the situation.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who was the next speaker, pushed back against Trump’s remarks, stating “France will reject any escalation and will not close any port of dialogue.” In an interview with CNN, Macron also stressed the importance of peace. "Look at the map, if we talk of a military solution we speak about a lot of victims,” he said. “Building peace is what we have to do in this region."

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who watched Trump’s speech with her arms crossed, later stated in a BBC interview “It was the wrong speech, at the wrong time, to the wrong audience.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also blasted the speech, stating “Trump's ignorant hate speech belongs in medieval times - not the 21st Century” after the president referred to Iran as a ‘rogue regime’ alongside North Korea.

The speech also caused an outcry from Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said "If I were giving the president advice, I would have said, 'avoid using 'Rocket Man.’" He went on to say “We know the leader of North Korea is erratic, to put it kindly. That kind of language is risky." Senator Ben Cardin also weighed in, stating, “Inflammatory, irresponsible threats do not keep us safe, rally our partners, or constitute global leadership.”

Foreign and domestic media were also quick to condemn the speech. “Beyond pragmatism, the speech will likely be remembered as one in which the president of the United States sounded more like a mob boss than a statesman,” wrote the Washington Post, comparing the president to Al Capone, who was played by Robert De Niro in the film “The Untouchables.”

The Guardian wrote, “Threats and grandstanding are just bluster, not policy,” and criticized the speech for violating international norms and customs.

In the face of mounting outrage, Trump’s aides did their best to calm the storm. In a press conference the previous day, Secretary of Defense James Mattis had replied in the affirmative to a question about whether there was a military option for North Korea that did not put Seoul in serious danger. However, in the wake of Trump’s speech, he stated "We are dealing with the North Korea situation through the international process and we will continue to do so” when asked to summarize the president’s message. “We will hopefully get this resolved through diplomatic means,” he added.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders joined in on Twitter, making reference to remarks by former President Obama and asserting that “(US) Presidents have always been clear to deter threats.”　

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

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