Today, President Trump skipped the panel on global warming today and delivered a powerful and historic speech on the need for global religious freedom at the United Nations.
Here is the transcript via CSPAN:
GOOD MORNING EVERYONE. ACROSS THE COUNTRIES AND CULTURES WE COME TOGETHER AS ONE UNITED BY OUR BELIEF — THIS UNDERSTANDING IS NOT UNIVERSAL. TODAY ALL OVER THE WORLD PEOPLE OF FAITH FACE A RISING TIDE OF PERSECUTION. WE HAVE WITNESSED HORRIFIC ACTS OF VIOLENCE COMMITTED AGAINST WORSHIPERS IN MOSQUES, CHURCHES AND SYNAGOGUES. WE HAVE WATCHED THE ARBITRARY DETENTION AND MISTREATMENT OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN COUNTRIES AROUND THE GLOBE. AND WE HAVE FELT THE CHILL OF A WORLD THAT SEEMS INCREASINGLY DISINTERESTED IN DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF ALL PEOPLE TO EXERCISE A SINCERELY HELD RELIGIOUS BELIEF. AS LEADERS, AT TIMES SUCH AS THIS CALLS US TO DEMONSTRATE OUR COMMITMENT TO RELIGIOUS LIBERTY NOT ONLY IN WORD BUT IN DEED WHICH IS WHY I’M SO EXTRAORDINARILY PLEASED AND HONORED WE ARE JOINED BY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE. [APPLAUSE]
President Trump also thanked Franklin Graham on Monday — Barack Obama blocked him from the White House.
I ALSO WANT TO THANK FRANKLIN GRAHAM BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN SO INSTRUMENTAL IN EVERYTHING WE ARE DOING, SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB IN SO MANY WAYS INCLUDE FLOODS AND HURRICANES AND EVERY TIME I GO I SEE HIM AND HE’S ALWAYS THERE BEFORE ME. I’M GOING TO BEAT HIM ONE DAY BUT HE IS ALWAYS AT THESE PLACES OF REALLY DISASTER AREAS. HE IS RIGHT THERE, INCREDIBLE LARGE STAFF OF VOLUNTEERS THAT ARE JUST AMAZING. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. [APPLAUSE]
IN RECENT TIMES THE WORLD HAS ALSO WITNESSED DEVASTATING ACTS OF VIOLENCE IN SACRED PLACES OF WORSHIP, IN 2016 AND 85-YEAR-OLD CATHOLIC PRIEST WAS VICIOUSLY KILLED WHILE CELEBRATING MASS IN NORMANDY, FRANCE. THE PAST YEAR THE UNITED STATES ENDURED HORRIFYING ANTI-SOMATIC ATTACKS AGAINST JEWISH AMERICANS AT SYNAGOGUES IN PENNSYLVANIA AND CALIFORNIA. IN MARCH, MUSLIMS PRAYING WITH THEIR FAMILIES WERE SADISTICALLY MURDERED IN NEW ZEALAND. ON EASTER SUNDAY THIS YEAR, TERRORISTS BOMBED CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN SRI LANKA, KILLING HUNDREDS OF FAITHFUL WORSHIPERS SO WE — THESE PEOPLE ATTACKS ARE A WOUND ON ALL HUMANITY. WE MUST ALL WORK TOGETHER TO PROTECT COMMUNITIES OF EVERY FAITH, WE ARE ALSO URGING EVERY NATION TO INCREASE PROSECUTION AND PUNISHMENT OF CRIMES AGAINST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES. THERE CAN BE NO GREATER CRIME THAN THAT. THIS INCLUDES MEASURES TO PREVENT THE INTENTIONAL DESTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS SITES AND RELICS. TODAY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL DEDICATE AN ADDITIONAL $25 MILLION TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND RELIGIOUS SITES AND REP — RELICS. WE ARE ALSO PLEASED TO BE JOINED BY MANY FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AS WE ANNOUNCE A VERY CRITICAL INITIATIVE. THE UNITED STATES IS FORMING A COALITION OF U.S. BUSINESSES FOR THE PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS BEEN DONE. THIS WILL ENCOURAGE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO PROTECT PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS IN THE WORKPLACE. THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAS BRILLIANT LEADERSHIP AND THAT’S WHY SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM ARE AMONG THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MEN AND WOMEN ON EARTH. THEY KNOW HOW THINGS GET DONE AND THEY KNOW HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THINGS AND THEY ARE WITH US NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME TO THIS EXTENT. FIRST TIME EVER AND WE ARE HONORED TO HAVE YOU IN THE ROOM. GREAT BUSINESS LEADERS, GREAT PEOPLE OF STRENGTH, TOO OFTEN PEOPLE IN POSITIONS OF POWER PREACH DIVERSITY WHILE SILENCING OR CENSORING THE FAITHFUL. TRUE TOLERANCE MEANS RESPECTING THE RIGHT OF ALL PEOPLE TO EXPRESS THEIR DEEPLY HELD RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. FOR I CONCLUDE I WANT TO THANK ALL OF THE SURVIVORS IN THE ROOM FOR THEIR COURAGE, YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION TO THE WORLD, YOUR MIND IS THAT NO FORCE ON EARTH IS STRONGER THAN THE FAITH OF RELIGIOUS BELIEVERS. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL FOREVER REMAIN AT YOUR SIDE AND THE SIDE OF ALL THOSE WHO SEEK RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. TODAY I ASK ALL NATIONS TO JOIN US IN THIS URGENT MORAL DUTY, WE ASK THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD TO HONOR THE ETERNAL RIGHT OF EVERY PERSON TO FOLLOW THEIR CONSCIENCE AND LIVE BY THEIR FAITH AND GIVE GLORY TO GOD. THE UNITED STATES HAS A VITAL ROLE IN THIS CRITICAL MISSION. SECRETARY-GENERAL GUTERRES WILL NOW SHARE WORDS ON THE EFFORT TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY FOR ALL AND HE HAS BEEN A CHAMPION OF WHAT WE ARE IN THIS ROOM FOR SO I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR BEING HERE, GOD BLESS YOU, GOD BLESS THE FAITHFUL AND GOD BLESS AMERICA. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. [APPLAUSE]
WATCH President Trump’s speech here:
