Trump reneges on yet another international agreement

April 26: On This Day In 2019

In 2013, the Obama Administration led the United States to join the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty, which set global standards for the sale and transfer of weapons such as tanks, rifles and airplanes.

Upon taking office, Trump seemed to focus on loosening restrictions on gun sales within our nation’s borders. Now, two years later, he turned his attention to weapons on a global scale.

So, at the NRA convention OTDI 2019, Trump effectively removed the US from that Arms Trade Treaty, thereby allowing military weapons to flow more freely around the world.

Trump turns his back on the world and walks alone

Just because he could: Throughout his term, Trump made a show of pulling us out of international treaties and organizations which had been created to help keep peace and/or a healthy climate. If it was something that his predecessors had agreed to, he often attempted to reverse it. The United States of America would no longer stand by our word. 

Among those agreements he removed us from:

• Global Compact on Migration

• Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia

• International Criminal Court

• Iran Nuclear deal

• Open Skies Treaty with Russia

• Paris Climate Agreement

• Trans-Pacific Partnership

• UN Human Rights Council

• UNESCO

• World Health Organization

You can’t make the system work for you if you’re no longer part of the system. So, President Biden returned America to its leadership position in the global community by rejoining several of these institutions.

Dive Deeper

• NPR provides coverage of that NRA convention, including a little stunt by Trump on stage

• Pic: OpenArt.ai

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Summary: Trump pulls us out of another international agreement