(CNN) No American President has ever spoken to the world like this. In his United Nations General Assembly debut, Trump applied the disruptive, bellicose, nationalistic persona that shattered US political norms and signaled an attempt to transform America's role in the world and the international system itself. "We must work together and confront together those who threaten us with chaos, turmoil and terror," Trump said in a survey of global geopolitics that paralleled his stark inaugural address eight months ago. It was dark, desolate, had a whiff of authoritarianism and pulsated with threats: None of his predecessors, for instance, stood in the well of the UN chamber and threatened to wipe a country -- in this case, North Korea -- off the face of the planet. It was the "axis of evil" on steroids as the President blasted "rogue states" and trumped George W. Bush-era rhetoric to put Pyongyang, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba on notice.Trump shattered US political norms"It certainly was, in many ways quite a groundbreaking speech," said Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation
Instead, he offered "principled realism" -- a concept that allows "sovereign" nation states the right to pursue their own self interests unencumbered by bureaucracy, global trade deals or multilateralism -- a vision that is not only germane to _'s political principles, but reflects how he has lived his life. And _'s willingness for other nations to pursue their self interests in preference to common goals also appears selective.