Ken Blackwell

The Real Trump by Ken Blackwell 

He was up working before sunrise in DC. Got on the plane to New York at 6am. President Trump spent time at the United Nations in New York, working from a morning speech to an evening meeting with Venezuela's new leader. In between, he signed a new security deal for Greenland and met with leaders from Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. 

Then, he is back in Washington to welcome China's Xi Jinping for a state visit. On Tuesday morning, the President stood before the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly with nearly 130 heads of state in the room. He told them America is stronger today than ever before and will always defend its own sovereignty. He defended the use of American force against threats from Iran, Venezuela, and the drug cartels. 

He also gave Iran's rulers a clear choice between making a deal and watching him "annihilate the Islamic Republic." Right after the speech, he sat down with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland to sign a new Arctic security agreement. The deal lets the United States expand Pituffik Space Base and build new bases at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig. American aircraft can now fly over and land anywhere in Greenland, and our military gains undersea access around the island. Greenland sits on the shortest path for missiles flying between Russia and the United States. 

The agreement has no end date, and it stays in force even if Greenland one day becomes independent. It blocks any country outside NATO from setting up military bases there, which shuts the door on China and Russia. It also names Golden Dome, the President's planned missile defense system, as one way to protect North America from the north. President Trump said the deal gives America "permanent control over security" on the island. Harry Truman offered $100 million in gold for Greenland in 1946, and presidents ever since have talked about its value to our defense. 

President Trump noted on Tuesday that most of them "just mentioned it." He sat at a table with two allies in New York and put America's role there in writing for good. In the early afternoon, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to talk about the war with Russia. During that meeting, he shared news from a separate set of talks on Iran. His envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had just spent about three hours with Iran's delegation through mediators. The President called it "a very good meeting, a very productive meeting," and he said another round is coming "in the very near future." Next came just the second meeting of the Shield of the Americas, the coalition against drug cartels that he founded in March. He asked member nations to join America in going after 24 criminal groups he has called the "ISIS of the Western Hemisphere," including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. He pledged to use America's "unmatched military might" against them if needed. 

Afterward, the coalition's 15 governments said they will freeze the gangs' assets, restrict their visas, and bring criminal charges against members and backers. He then met with leaders and senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, along with Jordan. Their talks focused on the way forward in the war with Iran. These nations live closest to the fight, and they carry much of its risk. The President has called on Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane that carries about a fifth of the world's oil. In the evening, the President hosted a reception for world leaders. He then met privately with Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's acting president, at the Lotte New York Palace hotel. It was the first face-to-face meeting between an American president and a Venezuelan leader in more than a decade. Rodríguez called it a historic meeting for both nations. 

In January, American forces captured the dictator Nicolás Maduro, and today he sits in a jail cell in Brooklyn. Since then, Venezuela has signed an oil agreement that opens about 65 billion barrels to the United States. That is roughly a fifth of the country's proven reserves. President Trump calls it the largest oil deal in history. Rodríguez said Tuesday's talks with the President covered energy, mining, and security. 

Today, the President is back in Washington to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping. It is the first Chinese state visit in more than a decade. He chose to greet Xi on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, a rare gesture of respect before hard talks on trade and technology. The visit comes just over a month before the midterm elections. In one day in New York, President Trump worked on two wars, the fight against the cartels, Arctic defense, and America's energy supply. The very next day, he turned his full attention to China. 

All this man does is work for America. I don't care what the media or the polls say. I'm proud Donald Trump is my President,

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