2018 Alexander Hamilton Awards - Stanley Druckenmiller and Ambassador Nikki Haley
Transcript
Host: I want to welcome you to the 18th annual Alexander Hamilton Awards dinner. To start the program tonight, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome to the podium the Chairman of the Manhattan Institute, Paul Singer.
Paul Singer: Thank you. It is indeed the 18th annual Alexander Hamilton Award dinner. We still can’t get you tickets to the show, but we’re glad you came anyway. And I’m pleased to learn that tonight’s dinner has raised a record 3.2 million dollars for the Institute. [Applause]
Special thanks to our platinum-level and patron-level supporters: Cliff and Laurel Asmus, Michael and Marilyn Fedak, Ken Griffin, Mark and Unkla Kingdon, and Dan Loeb. [Applause] I also want to thank our dinner patron-level supporters: Tim Dalton, Pola and Tom McInerney, Donna and Marvin Schwartz, Diane and Tom Smith. Thank you all.
We are living through a period of extraordinary transition and disruption, both in America and the world. Significant economic, social, cultural, and political changes are unfolding before our eyes. Some of the changes are positive, some are negative, and some of them we can’t figure out — especially the ones involving Kanye West. These changes and potential changes are causing a lot of anxiety. Just say to yourself the words “Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn.” There aren’t very many Anglophiles in this room — I’ll work on that. However, these changes also represent an opportunity for intellectual leadership.
Right now, there are few institutions able to make sense of what’s happening, few that understand the deep, powerful currents that are altering our social and political landscape and know how to channel them in constructive ways, and fewer still that are providing solutions to our problems that take the form of wise, relevant, and far-reaching public policies. The Manhattan Institute is one of those institutions, and that’s why its work is more urgent and needed than ever — given the number of young people who say they prefer socialism to capitalism, lacking the most basic understanding of either, and the number of college students who believe that free speech is a threat that they need to be protected from. “More urgent and needed than ever” does not feel like an exaggeration.
The Manhattan Institute has developed a reputation as one of the outstanding think tanks in the world. It’s known for its intellectual integrity and fearlessness, a commitment to rigorous empirical analysis, bold and creative ideas, and for its unflinching focus on the real-world offense — the human dimension of public policy. That’s true whether we’re talking about dramatically rethinking K-to-12 education policy and the value of vocational education, defending free speech and free inquiry on our college campuses, keeping our streets, communities, and citizens safe from crime and criminals, averting the financial crisis afflicting states and cities driven largely by unsustainable pension and healthcare benefits, or reining in the unaccountable administrative state. The Manhattan Institute goes about the hard, intricate work of public policy. It puts out a magazine of extraordinary quality and vitality, City Journal, which the marvelous novelist Tom Wolfe has called “the great fool-killer in the arena of policy.” And in partnership with Michael and Marilyn Fedak, the Manhattan Institute is reaching the next generation through the Young Leaders Circle and the Adam Smith Society. Together, these groups are working to equip more than nine thousand young people with the knowledge they need to articulate and defend the moral case for democratic capitalism. I know because I’ve spoken to these groups on several occasions and I’ve met these young men and women. At a time when world events can easily give rise to hopelessness, I can tell you that the intellectual curiosity, ambition, and patriotism of these future leaders inspires some degree of optimism about the future.
Since its founding in 1977, the Manhattan Institute has been a leading voice for free markets and free trade — when they’re in fashion and when they’re not. It has championed economic choice and individual responsibility and stood for excellence in every area. So, I might add, have our two distinguished award winners tonight. More will be said about them later this evening, but I can’t resist adding a few words about them, given my profound respect for them.
Stan Druckenmiller is one of America’s best financial minds, but his greatest contribution to American life might be found in his extraordinary generosity and his record-setting charitable giving. His efforts to support better schools, fight poverty, and help those suffering from AIDS are unmatched, and his life is a dazzling display of care and compassion in action. The genius of America has always been to reserve as much freedom and responsibility as possible to that loose confederation of private actors known as civil society. There’s something about the power of creative, strategic individuals and groups to make a difference through targeted, timely interventions and actions that governments simply cannot replicate. Stan Druckenmiller is one of those unique individuals who has made a profound difference in the lives of his fellow citizens, and we’re delighted to honor him tonight. [Applause]
A couple of generations ago, Daniel Patrick Moynihan served briefly as U.S. Ambassador to the UN and published a book in 1978 called A Dangerous Place — the name said it all. But since Jean Kirkpatrick left that post in 1985, and with the exception of John Bolton’s tour at Turtle Bay, which was unfairly cut short [Applause], the position has been devoid of people who seem to understand just how dangerous the United Nations has been. Who would have predicted in 2017 that we would finally get a more than worthy successor to those brave and truth-telling ambassadors, and that it would be the magnificent embodiment of the American dream named Nikki Haley? [Applause]
Ambassador Haley, our second award winner, is the daughter of immigrants from Punjab, India. She’s been a trailblazer, including as South Carolina’s first female and non-white governor. Her tenure as a conservative reformer was a great success as South Carolina improved under her leadership in so many different ways. But it was in an hour of grief and sorrow, after the horrific shootings at a church in Charleston, that she inspired the people of South Carolina and America with her grace, understanding, and moral courage. Ambassador Haley is one of those rare, unifying figures in American political life, respected by people across the political spectrum. As America’s Ambassador to the United Nations, she has demonstrated toughness and prudence, patriotism and moral courage. She’s a model public servant.
And you’ll be hearing from her and Stan Druckenmiller after dinner. You’ll also get to hear from the individuals presenting them with the Hamilton Award. Ken Langone is presenting to Stan — he is a Hamilton Award winner himself for his remarkable work helping children get the education they deserve. And we’re fortunate tonight to have Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer here to present the award to Ambassador Haley. Ambassador Dermer is the envoy to our government in America’s capital, Washington, where he effectively and eloquently represents Israel’s government, which resides in Israel’s capital, Jerusalem. Ron is a powerful voice for the U.S.-Israel relationship and for Western values. I look forward to hearing from him and from all of our speakers. But for now, please enjoy your meal. Please welcome the founder and CEO of Enmed Associates, Ken Langone.
Kenneth Langone: Good evening everybody. I am honored to be asked to introduce my good and close friend Stan Druckenmiller. Stanley and I go back forty years. He is a devoted husband, father and friend. He is as fine a human being as I know, and he is one of the most successful investors in America. I have been investing with him for 40 years, we have never had a down year.
A little bit about Stanley’s beliefs in America: He believes in capitalism, he believes in free markets, free trade, limited government, and the rule of law. He almost sounds like Alexander Hamilton. And I think I can say for sure that the selection committee picked the right man to get this award, because Stanley, long before it was fashionable, even though Alexander Hamilton was devoted to the belief that much of what America became, became so because we followed the roadmap that Alexander Hamilton laid out in the early days of this country. Among other things, Stanley has an enormous heart. He is generous with his time, with his talent, and with his treasure.
Geoff Canada is here tonight, and I know he would agree with me, that Geoff had this wonderful dream called the Harlem Children’s Zone, and when he matched up with Stan, it was absolutely certain that HCZ would go far beyond Geoff’s wildest dreams. HCZ today is one of the great examples of the ability to help people help themselves in depressed areas of America, in this case, Harlem. Geoff’s vision and Geoff’s dream was made possible, and I know he would agree with me, in part not only through Stanley’s generosity, but through Stanley’s time and talent. Our board meetings are at 7:00 in the morning and Stanley never misses one. He was chairman, and he still is chairman, of HCZ. His commitment is total. He is also chairman and a founder of Blue Meridian, an organization committed to moving the needle in social problems in America. And he has made a major, major financial commitment to that cause.
So, here we are tonight honoring a man who understands the importance of giving back, but who also understands the importance of initiative, and capitalism, and free markets, and indeed democracy. The selection committee has made a very wise choice in selecting Stan for this honor and I am humbled to have the honor to introduce him. Thank you very much.
Stanley Druckenmiller: Thank you, Ken. That was very, very nice. I have had so much good fortune in my life, but can you imagine having known that man and having him as a mentor for 42 years? Pretty cool. And then on top of that I met and married Fiona Biggs thirty years ago. To have a partner and the love of my life like Fiona and friends like Ken and Geoff Canada, I really count my blessings.
I am humbled to stand before you tonight and accept an award named after Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton. I am a bit of a Hamilton nut. I am also a bit odd to be in line with the past recipients. I was in awe enough and then I saw the co-honoree was Nikki Haley, wow. When I saw the line, the past recipients, I was thinking maybe Paul had perhaps called me bleary-eyed after a sleepless night, taking on another foreign government for their failed financial practices. But seriously, amid all the vitriol and divisions in our countries, there can be no debate about one thing: Alexander Hamilton is the most important non-president to shape the contours and the character of what would become the greatest nation in the history of civilization. And, frankly, he is actually a lot more important than most who ascended to the highest office in the land in terms of the success of our republic.
I actually grew up in a small town in South Jersey and at the age of 9 in the early ‘60s I moved to Richmond, Virginia. Now, Virginia had their own sense of their history and ours, at least back then. I took three years of American history when I was in the land of Jefferson and what I learned about Alexander Hamilton is he was shot by Aaron Burr. That was about it. I mean, who knew that a rap musical was going to be more informative about our founding father than the curriculum of the Virginia school system? Then I went to Bowdoin College in Southern Maine and I was lucky enough to take American history there, and it is there that I learned about this amazing man and his great and good contributions to our republic. I take particular pleasure in receiving this award because it is bestowed by the Manhattan Institute. Its positive impact on this city over the years has been literally immeasurable, and specifically the institute’s contributions to the cause of real reform and education in this city and beyond.
These contributions have given me one of the greatest joys of my life, watching Geoffrey Canada create and build the Harlem Children’s Zone. Geoff, you out there? And let me say this: The institute’s promotion of free markets, free trade, limited government, and the rule of law have never been more important than today, never. It is not the first time this country has been divided in a war of ideas and ideals, and probably not the most precarious, but it is certainly the most consequential in my lifetime, and I can’t think of better proponents of the way forward out of this mess than the people assembled in this room. This nation has emerged from turmoil before and it is critical, absolutely critical we take the right path again. And now a few comments of my own on the way forward.
Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember when the Soviets were building a strong economy with central planning and then it crumbled, and the wall came down. And then I remember when the Japanese were supposedly eclipsing the U.S. economy with their system of keiretsu and affiliate industrial companies partnering with the government and then the Japanese Lost Decade became two. And now there is China. And it is their turn, with their new leader for life, centralized decision-making on economic matters through 2025 and beyond.
In each of these cases, illiberal statists in our own country are most impressed by the top-down designs of foreign powers than our own track record of free market capitalism here at home, sort of a Wizard of Oz trumps the invisible hand narrative. But I actually believe it is an unfair comparison. Capitalism is under attack, but we have been moving further and further away from capitalism with each passing presidential administration. So, my advice is simple. Thank you, I wasn’t expecting a lot of applause tonight. So, my advice is simple. Can we try capitalism? Real capitalism. Give it a chance. Not the increasingly bastardized version we have been practicing the last two decades. And then let’s just see whether a capitalist economic system is the most effective way to bring about broad-based prosperity and the flourishing of human dignity.
For eight years I watched the Obama administration disparage the efficacy and fairness of capitalism, the influence of government increased in every aspect of our lives, the cost of regulation doubled, corporate America was attacked in the name of social equality, and our healthcare system, hard to believe, was made even more inefficient. Now, I did not support Donald Trump. But, after he was elected, I was at least hopeful that it would represent an inflection point in the trend away from capitalism. And while there has been some relief on the regulatory front, and of course we have gotten a corporate tax cut, some of the more egregious trends away from capitalism are continuing and, frankly, new elements that violate the principles of capitalism have been added.
For starters, free trade is under assault, but I see no need to lecture the people in this room on the merits of comparative advantage. Next, Hamilton had a very deep respect for the rule of law as opposed to the rule of man. The best tech companies in the world are in the U.S. because of a mix of education, immigration, finance, and meritocracy. The central pillar that bolsters this mix and makes our economic system successful is a respect for the rule of law. Is there a better example of this than Amazon? Its founder is a Hamilton-inspired adopted son of an immigrant who is literally revolutionizing the way business is done. It is no coincidence that Amazon was built in America, no surprise that governments, foreign governments, envy its origin, and no question that legacy incumbents impugn its name but mimic its tactics.
Capitalism is intolerant of high-cost providers, rent-seekers, middlemen, and those who extract more value than is their due. Amazon’s biggest backers are not people in elevated positions of power, it are their customers. Well, and a few investors too. The President’s personal view of Amazon should have no bearing on its future success. If intervention is enacted based on his feelings, we will be no better than other countries in the world where corruption and rent-seeking become the main reasons for stagnation and mediocrity. Regarding a continuing trend away from capitalism, Adam Smith would be distraught to know that we are expending an ever-increasing amount of our national resources on government transfer payments.
I spent two years of my life going to liberal and conservative universities to try and get young people energized about the looming explosion entitlements as well as their looming decreasing share of the economic pie. I even asked Geoff Canada to go with me so the students would show up. I got incredibly enthusiastic responses from ultra-liberal Berkeley to conservative USC. I even did a TED talk, and I was so effective in terms of the national debate that the only thing that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton agreed on was that entitlements shouldn’t be touched. Good going, Stan.
But then we missed the golden opportunity to offset some revenue loss and address generational equity when Congress passed tax reform. Instead, government debt, which has doubled over the last decade, is set to increase to levels only reached during World War II over the next decade, so we will have sacrificed our future during a relatively peaceful economic period with no postwar reduction simply because politicians can’t say no. This does not exactly measure up to spending to defeat fascism and defend the world’s freedom. Finally, let me address a distortion that is one of the greatest threats to a properly functioning capitalist system. For years now a mix of central – sorry – for years now a mix of financial repression and central bank intervention has made long-term interest rates largely determined by government fiat.
Bond-buying by central bankers, commonly referred to as QE, has become so engrained in current thinking that it is now in the Fed’s conventional toolkit, a tool once reserved for a depression or financial crisis is now to be used at the first inkling of the next recession. For those of us old enough to have seen the dangers of price controls, they led to shortages, wasted resources, and disincentives to invest in what consumers want. They inevitably led to an allocation of resources by political actors in another great afront to capitalism. So, it is most surprising that forty years after wage and price controls were sadly rejected by every economic textbook and policymakers, today we have settled to allowing the most important price of all, long-term interest rates, to be regularly distorted by public intervention.
The excuse of this radical monetary policy has been the obsession with a fixed 2.0% inflation targeting rule. The decimal point shows the absurdity of the exercise. Anything below 2.0% was a failure and risked deflation, the boogeyman of the 1930s, to be avoided at all costs. This has meant that years after the Great Recession ended the Fed has not only kept interest rates below inflation but have accumulated an unprecedented $4.5 trillion on their balance sheet by doing QE. Global central banks, in part to keep their currencies from appreciating of these overabundant dollars, have followed with $10 trillion of their own. Now, the irony of this is over the last 700 years inflation has averaged barely over 1% and interest rates have averaged just under 6%. So, we are seeing an unprecedented, ultra-monetary, radical monetary expansion during a time of average, average inflation over the last number of centuries. Moreover, the three most pernicious deflationary periods of the past century did not start because inflation was too close to zero. They were preceded by asset bubbles.
If I were trying to create a deflationary bust, I would do exact exactly what the world’s central bankers have been doing the last six years. I shudder to think that the malinvestment that occurred over this period. Corporate debt has soared, but most of it has been used for financial engineering. Bankruptcies have been minimal in the most disruptive economy since the Industrial Revolution. Who knows how many corporate zombies are out there because free money is keeping them alive? Individuals have plowed ever-increasing amounts of money into assets at ever-increasing prices, and it is not only the private sector that is getting the wrong message, but Congress as well. I have no doubt we would have not gotten such a big increase in fiscal deficits if policy had been normalized already.
Of all the interventions by the not-so-invisible hand, not allowing the market to set the hurdle rate for investment is the one I see with the highest costs. Competition is a better tool than price control for protecting consumers. That applies to Amazon and the bond market. The government should get out of the business of manipulating long-term interest rates and canceling market signals. One final thought: During Obama’s tenure, I was disheartened by the lack of criticism from the Left. Frankly, I think it would have carried a lot more weight than criticism from the Right.
Today I see a similar situation. I am discouraged by the timidity of the criticism of our present direction by many Conservatives. Now, there are many in this audience who have the power of the pen, and I also see a few who have the power of the purse. If you share the principles I have laid out tonight, I encourage you to articulate a better course for our country, a course for which Hamilton would be proud, and assure that America’s best days are ahead of us. Thank you for this wonderful award.
Ambassador Ron Dermer: Ladies and gentlemen, it is a real pleasure to be with all of you here tonight, especially since this has been a rather uneventful week for me. Truth is I just got back from a briefing of another Mossad operation, and I am happy to inform you that it looks like we found the Holy Grail.
Seriously, how about a round of applause for Israel’s remarkable intelligence agency? Their work makes Israel safer, it makes America safer, and it makes the world safer. Before I introduce Ambassador Haley, I want to thank Paul Singer and all the supporters of the Manhattan Institute for your efforts to strengthen free societies and free enterprise for over 40 years. I do not need to tell people in this room that ideas matter. And today ideas matter more than ever because ideas spread faster than ever. That is true for good ideas, but it is also true for bad ideas, as we can see from the growing assault on capitalism in this country and across the world.
Many of the discredited ideologies that brought so much misery in the 20th century are making a comeback in the 21st century. The Pied Pipers of these failed ideologies play an emotionally pleasing tune that is leading so many young people down a new road to serfdom. There are many reasons why these bad ideologies are spreading. The fertile political ground that has come with the transformation from an industrial to a technological age, the richly endowed educational institutions that have turned capitalism into a dirty word, the failure of capitalism’s defenders to make their case in moral terms, and of course a sense of history that goes all the way back to breakfast. But regardless of why bad ideas are spreading, it is clear that free market ideas are under an attack the likes of which we have not seen in many decades. That is why places like the Manhattan Institute are so important. So, on behalf of a fellow free market democracy led by a very capitalist prime minister, a democracy that flourishes when good ideas flourish, I want to thank all of you associated with the Manhattan Institute for defending freedom and for defending the truth.
Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I am honored to introduce someone who defends freedom and the truth each and every day, Ambassador Nikki Haley. I am sure many people here are aware of Ambassador Haley’s impressive bio, which can’t but reaffirm one’s faith in the promise of America. She is the proud daughter of immigrants from India, who has quickly ascended the ladder of meritocracy in this great country. She began as a community leader, served three terms in the South Carolina State House, and was the first female governor elected in that state. Last year, as you know, she took up her post at the United Nations. Ambassador Haley learned the lessons of hard work earlier than most. At the age of 12 she started keeping the books in a clothing business started by her mother. She said the experience helped her develop, “An extreme watchfulness about overheads and a sharp aversion to government intrusion.” I am sure those instincts serve her well in dealing with a U.N. that has a well-deserved reputation of the being one of the planet’s most wasteful bureaucracies and which still harbors delusions of being a world government.
Yet what makes Ambassador Haley so special is not the details of her impressive bio. It is her even more impressive character. We all saw that character a few years ago in the wake of the horrific murder of nine African-Americans by a white supremacist in a church in Charleston. In that dark hour, Governor Haley helpedunite a grieving community and inspire a divided nation by removing the Confederate flag from the state capitol. And we all see that character every day, as Ambassador Haley so ably represents the United States at the United Nations. Washington may be a swamp, but the U.N. has long been a cesspool. Well, after sixteen months of wading through that cesspool, Ambassador Haley is as unsullied as ever. She has unapologetically defended the United States and she has taken on Iran, North Korea, and so many others with a moral clarity that we have not seen for many, many years. She has called evil by its name, distinguished friend from foe, and brought light into the darkness. For Israel, that light has been especially bright.
Most of you probably remember that in December 2016 the United Nations Security Council passed an anti-Israel resolution. Some of you may also recall that following that shameful vote, members of the Security Council actually broke out in a thunderous applause. That grotesque scene, when countries celebrated a ganging up on the world’s most beleaguered democracy is seared in my memory, which only makes the light of Nikki Haley shine even brighter for me and my country. With the full support of President Trump, she has been unwavering in her defense of Israel. She has steadfastly stood up for our democracy and confronted all of Israel’s enemies, from the tyrants in Tehran, to the butchers in Damascus, to the inciters in the Palestinian authority. This year, as Israel celebrates our 70th year of independence, we are honoring two of Ambassador Haley’s predecessors, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jeane Kirkpatrick, two individuals who made a unique contribution to strengthening Israel and the alliance between our countries. Ambassador Haley clearly follows in the footsteps of those giants.
Among the moral midgets of the U.N., Ambassador Haley is a high-heeled Gulliver in Lilliput. And as she walks through the halls of the United Nations, people are taking notice. They see a remarkable woman who has earned the respect of so many across the aisle and around the world. They see a person of purpose and poise, of dignity and decency, of clarity and courage, and we all see someone that makes us proud. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming a 2018 Hamilton Award winner, Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Ambassador Nikki Haley: Thank you very much, Ambassador Dermer, for those very kind remarks. You know, at the U.N., America and Israel don’t always have a lot of friends, but Ambassador, I always say quality is better than quantity. Thank you to the Manhattan Institute for this great honor. It is a real pleasure to be here among fellow conservative warriors.
We have a lot in common. We both work behind enemy lines in New York City, and we are both optimists. We are trying to bring facts and reason to a lot of people who don’t want to hear anything of the sort. As a former governor, I am especially appreciative of the Manhattan Institute’s commitment to freedom and market principles. When I applied those principles in South Carolina, we had so much investment and job growth that by the time I left they were referring to South Carolina as the beast of the Southeast. I am very proud of that. The Manhattan Institute knows the power of ideas. No organization outside the NYPD is more responsible for the miracle that occurred in this city in the 1990s. And it was all based on an idea, the idea that public order matters, that New Yorkers had a right to a quality of life and good policing could help give them that. It is a rare thinktank that promotes an idea that leads to real change in real people’s lives. But that is what the Manhattan Institute does. It is inspiring. And as a recent transplant to New York City, I thank you.
Receiving an award for Alexander Hamilton is truly humbling. Hamilton, of course, is best known for his incredible achievements in financial and commercial policies, but he also had a few things to say about foreign policy. So, I am grateful that you saw fit to expand the Manhattan Institute‘s usual set of issues to give me this honor tonight. I came to the United Nations with a simple idea. That idea was that strong, confident American leadership on behalf of our values is vital. But when you come to the U.N. from a country like the United States, you see very quickly what the fundamental challenge is. We are faced with trying to work with many countries that do not share our values. I am accountable to the American people, but the representatives of unfree, undemocratic countries are accountable to no one, only to power and the whims of the dictators who employ them. That is a real challenge. A good example is the Security Council’s actions, or lack of actions, on Syria.
Five years ago, Russia took on the responsibility of guaranteeing the destruction and removal of all chemical weapons from Syria. Either by design or by incompetence, they have obviously failed at the task. You can applaud for that. So, the U.N. Security Council has attempted to deal with this problem, and there is very broad international support for doing so. But, of course, Russia has a veto and they have exercised it a dozen times to protect the Assad regime. Which is to say that a government that is comfortable protecting a mass murderer is actually dictating the United Nations’ policy on Syria. And that is the foundational dilemma of the United Nations. The U.N. is setup to treat all countries the same way, but all countries are not fundamentally the same.
When you try to pretend that there is no difference between the good guys and the bad guys, that is always a win for the bad guys. History shows us that when the United States fails to lead and fails to standup for our friends and our values, we suffer, and the world suffers. That is especially true at the U.N. On some of our most principled stands, like speaking out against the Castro regime’s inhumane treatment of the Cuban people, we are vastly outnumbered at the U.N. It would be easier to just not rock the boat.
When the crowd is all going one way, it can be hard to be the only one going in the other direction. But in America we don’t celebrate the mob. We celebrate the person that has the courage and conviction to stand up to the mob. Standing alone on behalf of America’s interests and values isn’t something to be embarrassed by, it is something to be proud of, especially when you consider the people and the things that have gotten loud expressions of support at the U.N., like the cheers that greeted Hugo Chavez in the General Assembly in 2006, or the applause that erupted in the chamber when the anti-Semitic resolution equating Zionism with racism was passed in 1974. If the United States has to sellout our friends or apologize for our values in order to be loved at the U.N., then we are better off without their approval.
Like the Manhattan Institute, we rely on the power of an idea to guide our approach at the United Nations. That idea is an America idea. It is that each of us has God-given rights that cannot be legitimately denied. Our commitment to freedom and human dignity has made the United States the most generous and powerful nation on earth. Our values are our most powerful foreign policy tools. We must never hesitate to lead with them.
President Trump will soon make some very consequential moves on the world stage. In the next ten days, the President will decide the future of the American involvement in the Iran nuclear deal. This is a very important decision, but regardless of which way the President decides to go, the truth is we have already entered a new era of leadership on Iran. It doesn’t get the attention it deserves, but there is seriously deepening unrest going on in Iran today. The new American commitment to holding the regime accountable for terrorizing the region and for violating human rights of its people has sent a powerful message at an important time. It tells the Iranian people that they don’t have to settle for a regime that is bankrupting its economy and denying basic human rights all in the name of religious extremism. The administration is not shy about stating that plain truth. Our new leadership on Iran also sends the right message to the other rogue would be nuclear state that is on the agenda in the next few weeks, North Korea.
Some argue that if the United States leaves or significantly alters the Iran deal that would send the message to North Korea that we can’t be trusted to live up to our commitments. Notice that the people who make that argument all think the Iran deal was something to be proud of. In fact, the argument has it backwards. By showing that we are willing to walk away from a bad deal with Iran, or to hold out for major improvements in that deal, we send the best possible message going into discussions with North Korea. The message is that we will not accept a bad deal just so that we can declare a hollow victory that fails to enhance our security.
I have every confidence that President Trump sees his upcoming talks with North Korea that way. We want a good deal, but we recognize that no deal is better than a bad deal. I began this evening talking about the Manhattan Institute and the miracle that occurred in the New York City in the 1990s. I will end by telling you another miracle, that the daughter of Indian immigrants has the privilege of speaking for the American people at the United Nations. This miracle was brought about through the power of the American idea. It is the revolutionary notion that we are all children of God and we all deserve to rise as far and as high as our hard work and talent will take us.
Virtually everything the Manhattan Institute does promotes that American idea, and I thank you for that. And as long as I am in public life, I will never stop being a proud messenger of America’s hope to the world. Thanks once again for this honor. I appreciate it very much.