PM on Trump: 'It's not all about one leader'

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has brushed off a title she has gained as the "anti-Trump", saying she was simply voicing views New Zealand had long held when she addressed the United Nations General Assembly.

Ardern delivered her first statement to the General Assembly this morning, speaking about the importance of multilateralism, climate change and women's rights.

It was a gentle push-back at the sentiments aired by US President Donald Trump earlier in the week, when he had called for patriotism to take precedence over globalism.

Ardern's speech did not mention Trump directly, but did emphasise the need for leaders to act collectively rather than in any individual country's self-interest on issues such as climate change and conflict.

The title of the "anti-Trump" has been bandied about in New York as Ardern appears to epitomise the opposite world view of Trump on everything from trade to climate change and women's rights.

Ardern said she was simply expressing views New Zealand had held for a long time.

"The fact we have long had these values, it's not new. It's just the values of those around us have changed over time.

"I think it's important we always maintain an independent foreign policy line. We need to speak to New Zealand values, regardless of what any other world leader tends to think or their position."

She would not offer a critique of Trump's views or Trump himself.

When it was pointed out she rarely referred to him by name, she said she was there to represent New Zealand.

"It's not all about one other leader."

Asked if she liked him, she said she did not know him.

"I don't know Donald Trump, I know the President of the United States."

While foreign affairs officials often craft a leader's address to the UN General Assembly, Ardern said she had written much of her speech herself in New Zealand, on the plane and while in New York.

One of the late additions was the "Me Too must become We Too" line that won her applause from those listening at the UN.

The audience was small as Heads of State are given priority while Prime Ministers are left to speak at the tail end of Leaders' Week, after many have already left.