15:56

The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, writes from UN headquarters in New York on the open derision Trump faced in the general assembly hall.

While most leaders have used their time on the UN stage to list the agreements they have made, the protocols agreed and treaties signed, Trump clearly delighted in telling the world how many such pieces of paper he had ripped up.

The lead writer of the speech was reportedly Stephen Miller, now the primary bridge between the White House and the American far right. It showed. The address was a manifesto for nativism.

Any remaining pretense of altruism was stripped away from this vision of US foreign policy, and in its place was a strong tinge of resentment and self-pity.

Trump observed that the US was the world’s biggest aid donor, “but few give anything to us”.

“Moving forward, we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends,” he warned.



