Donald Trump's speech to the United Nations was one of the clearest expositions of the way he sees the world, his ideology in its rawest form. To his supporters, it will be seen as Trumpism unplugged; to his critics, Trumpism unhinged.
Over almost an hour, he took aim at his opponents and their ideas, picking them off one by one as he toured the world. He began at home, praising the United States and himself. He said the US was living through a golden age and repeated his much-disputed claim that he had personally ended seven wars, something he argued merited a Nobel Peace Prize.
But then the president laid into his hosts. The UN, he said, had not helped his peace-making. He questioned the organisation's purpose, saying it had tremendous potential but was not living up to that. All it did, he claimed, was write strongly worded letters that it did not follow up. Empty words, he said, did not end wars.
He also attacked the UN for the aid it gave to asylum seekers hoping to enter the US, saying 'The UN is supposed to stop invasions, not create them and not finance them.' The president even attacked the UN for a broken escalator and teleprompter that disrupted his visit and speech.
Many analysts question the effectiveness of the UN in resolving conflict these days, pointing in particular to gridlock in the Security Council and the body's unresponsive bureaucracy.
But on another level, Trump can be seen himself a cause and symptom of the UN's lack of effectiveness; for he believes global crises are best resolved by powerful men like him getting together and hammering out a deal, not using multilateral bodies like the UN to work out collective solutions. Under Trump, the US has withdrawn much of its UN funding, leaving the body forced to cut its humanitarian work around the world.
Trump saved perhaps his biggest criticism for his European allies, attacking the continent for investing in renewable energy, and opening its borders to migration.
'Europe is in serious trouble. They have been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody has ever seen before… Both the immigration and suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe,' he said.
Climate change, he claimed to audible gasps, was 'the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world' and was lumbering European countries with expensive energy costs compared to fossil fuels. He criticised in particular the UK government for imposing new taxes on North Sea oil.
On a specific point of policy, the most substantive warning Trump gave related to Russia's war on Ukraine. He said President Putin's refusal to end the conflict was 'not making Russia look good'. He said the US was prepared 'to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs' to end the bloodshed. But he said European nations had to stop buying Russian energy.
Perhaps more important than his speech was Trump's social media post a short while later where he asserted for the first time Ukraine could be in a position to win back all of its territory. His dismissal of Russia as a 'paper tiger' and not a 'real military power' will hurt President Putin, who is sensitive to any suggestion his country is not a global player. Diplomats said this was the latest example of Mr Trump's journey towards a position that is more critical of Russia.
Six years ago Trump's audience at the UN laughed at his at times unfactual assertions; this year they listened largely in silence. 'I am really good at this stuff,' he told world leaders. 'Your countries are going to hell.'
