UNITED NATIONS, September 19 – Toasting the “potential” of the UN before beef tenderloin and chocolate mousse, U.S. President Donald Trump shared the head table of the Heads of State luncheon at the UN General Assembly with this South Korean counterpartMoon Jae-in, three hours after calling North Korea's Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man... on a suicidal path.” It was not a conventional UN speech. Then again, some were left wondering, what *is* the “wild rocket and baby red romaine lettuce” listed on the UN's luncheon menu? (It's an Anglophone version of arugula, with which Trump's predecessor Barack Obama had some history.)
Here's how Tuesday's menu began: “Wild Rocket & Baby Red Romaine Lettuce, Roasted Chanterelle Mushrooms, Haricot Verts, Grilled Stone Fruit.” One Inner City Press reader joked Kim should have been called Rocket Boy. Or, following the menu, Wild Rocket, or Baby Red Rocket.
Here's what Trump toasted: “As someone born in New York and raised in New York, it’s a great honor to have the United Nations in New York. It always has been. For years I’ve been a critic but I’m someone’s who’s said the United Nations has tremendous potential.There is no better forum... and certainly there can be no better location where everybody comes together…… but we can do better and we’re going to. The potential of the United Nations is unlimited, you’re going to do things that will be epic. I certainly hope you will. I feel very, very confident…toast to the potential, the great, great potential of the United Nations.” We'll see.
In the crowd were not only heads of state, but also ambassadors like Ukraine's Volodymyr Yelchenko, and UN system officials like not only USg Jeffrey Feltman but also Lassino Zerbo of CTBTO and Virginia Gamba, soon to recommended including the Saudi-led coalition in the UN Children and Armed Conflict annex - or not. Watch this site.
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