![\"Trump\"](\"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Trump.jpg\")
Donald Trump became the first US president in 18 years to address the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos with a speech that pledged to reform the international trade system, \u201cde-nuke\u201d the Korean peninsula and frustrate Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions.\nHis address, delivered to a packed and expectant audience at the WEF on Friday, met with polite applause from a crowd that some had suggested could be hostile to the president\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d message.
\nBut Trump defused potential hostility with a low-key, diplomatic speech that focused on his economic achievements and the attraction of the US for investors. On foreign and trade matters, he said: \u201cI will always put America first, but America first does not mean America alone.\u201d
\nHe restated his strong stance on foreign and military affairs. Trump said he had invested money in the US military, and was asking America\u2019s friends to \u201cmeet their financial obligations\u201d on defense.
\nWith regard to the world\u2019s trouble spots, Trump pledged to \u201cde-nuke\u201d the Korean peninsula, and prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. \u201cWe continue to call on partners to confront Iran\u2019s support for terrorists and block Iran\u2019s path to a nuclear weapon,\u201d he said.
\nOn international terrorism, he delivered a strong message that a US-led coalition would \u201cdeny terrorists control of their territory and populations, to cut off their funding and to discredit their wicked ideology.\u201d
\nHe said he was pleased to report that the coalition to defeat Daesh \u201chas retaken almost 100 percent of the territory once held by these killers in Iraq and Syria.\u201d
\n\u201cThere is still more fighting and work to be done and to consolidate our gains. We are committed to ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists who want to commit mass murder of our civilian populations,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe are also securing our immigration system as a matter of both national and economic security. America is a cutting-edge economy. But our immigration system is stuck in the past. We must replace our current system of extended family chain migration with a merit-based system of admissions.\u201d
\nTrump said US prosperity created jobs and economic growth around the world, but he warned that he would take a tough line on trade when he believed other countries were not playing fair. In a veiled reference to China, he said: \u201cYou cannot have free and open trade if some countries are not fair and reciprocal.\u201d The US would not tolerate threats to intellectual property, subsidies, or \u201cstate-led economic planning.\u201d
\nHe said the US would enter mutually beneficial trade treaties, and would consider bilateral treaties with members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the global trade group from which he withdrew in one of his first acts as president.<\/p>\n