NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

John Roughan: Tough talk is all Trump is turning out to be

John Roughan
By John Roughan
Opinion Writer·NZ Herald·
22 Sep, 2017 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

During a speech to a UN African leaders' lunch in NY, Pres. Donald Trump invents a new country
John Roughan
Opinion by John Roughan
Former editorial writer and columnist, NZ Herald
Learn more

Our civilised politics and intelligent election campaign has been so absorbing it has almost blotted out events in the wider world, even the talk of nuclear war.

The blustering tweets of fire and fury or whatever, from the big talker who is supposed to be President of the United States appear to have instilled no fear in his counterpart in North Korea, who has stepped up his test firings of long range missiles and warheads.

Yet the world doesn't sound overly alarmed. When it gets to the point that warnings are being broadcast in Japanese cities and people are running to shelters, it's getting serious, isn't it? Why does it seem merely surreal?

The tough guy addressed the United National General Assembly for the first time this week and warned that if the US is forced to defend itself or its allies, "we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea". Totally destroy. The Assembly, as far as I could tell, just yawned.

The cable news networks paid more attention to the latest in a sequence of hurricanes of rare scale and fury that have deluged parts of the United States and devastated islands in the Caribbean this summer. Climate change may be knocking on Donald Trump's Florida door.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After eight months in the White House this President is simply no longer taken seriously. He has reduced the world's most powerful office to a shabby, selfish little enclave. He stood in front of the United Nations this week and said, "Our government's first duty is to its people, to our citizens, to observe their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights and defend their values. As President of the United States, I will always put America first. Just like you, as leaders of your countries, will always, and should always, put your countries first."

Well yes, naturally, but America used to be so much bigger.

Oddly enough, this nuclear rhetoric was the ultimate nightmare last year when a rank outsider, a crude populist with no knowledge of statecraft and showing no regard for it, was running for President. A friend used to laugh when we argued about Trump over a beer in the club after tennis. He was thoroughly enjoying the big fellow's challenge to liberal sensibilities and dismissed the idea he would do anything really dangerous.

I didn't raise the nuclear spectre in as many words. It seemed preposterous even for Trump back then. The threat of a trade war was bad enough. But here we are, the tough guy is dealing with Kim Jung Un just as he probably dealt with small independent contractors through all those years building his real estate empire. Try to scare them, threaten them with ruin. They stood to lose more than he did. They always came around, why should a small country be any different?

He thought his old art of the deal was working a few weeks ago when he publicly announced his threats seemed to be getting Kim's respect. Many others were finding, to their surprise, they were drawing hope from the possibility Kim was more rational than Trump. Then North Korea fired the missile over Japan and exploded a warhead more compact and powerful than anyone thought it possessed, sending a seismic shock through the hemisphere.

Discover more

Opinion

John Roughan: A coalition of losers could happen

29 Sep 04:00 PM
Opinion

John Roughan: A fourth election victory is truly historic

06 Oct 04:00 PM
Opinion

John Roughan: Peters appears to mean business this time

13 Oct 04:00 PM

It was then, I think, that Trump decided to give the North Korean a silly nickname, just as he did for his rivals in his election campaign. "Rocket Man". This was probably Trump's way of defusing tension when a contractor looked like he might really sue. Call him some crazy New York thing and they'd both have a chuckle. Trump has that blokey charm. It might have worked in the only business he knows, where he held all the cards. It doesn't work in diplomacy.

Sooner or later, probably sooner, Rocket Man will have a missile capable of reaching Washington DC and a warhead that can withstand the re-entry. What happens then? It's some comfort to be told there are still grown-ups in the White House, possibly more than there were before the recent purges of Anthony Scaramucci and mad Steve Bannon.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The President, as the sole elected figure in the executive branch of the US Government, has been invested with immense personal power, ultimately his finger alone is on the button. But when the American voters have made a serious mistake, electing someone temperamentally unreliable to the awful responsibilities of the office, we might find the Washington establishment can keep decisions out of the Oval Office when necessary.

Already, his bloated talk on every subject floats across our television screens without really exciting or alarming anybody anymore. He knows the sort of people who voted for him and he continues to speak to them while embarrassed Americans can only cringe.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

Politics

Herald NOW: Helen Clark joins former world leaders calling for end of war in Gaza

World

RFK Jr proposes barring govt-funded research from top medical journals

29 May 07:51 PM
World

Herald NOW's political panel talk truancy, trade and the price of butter

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

RFK Jr proposes barring govt-funded research from top medical journals

RFK Jr proposes barring govt-funded research from top medical journals

29 May 07:51 PM

The US Secretary of Health says the Lancet is under control of pharmaceutical companies.

Herald NOW's political panel talk truancy, trade and the price of butter

Herald NOW's political panel talk truancy, trade and the price of butter

Herald NOW: Trump's tariffs could head to Supreme Court after second decision declares them unlawful

Herald NOW: Trump's tariffs could head to Supreme Court after second decision declares them unlawful

Court blocks Trump's tariffs, White House vows to appeal

Court blocks Trump's tariffs, White House vows to appeal

29 May 06:34 PM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP