US President Donald Trump castigated the United Nations as a feckless institution in a speech to the world body, praising the turn America has taken under his leadership while warning Europe will be ruined if it doesn’t turn away from a “double-tailed monster” of ill-conceived migration and green energy policies.
His roughly hour-long speech before the UN General Assembly on Tuesday was both grievance-filled and self-congratulatory as he used the platform to applaud his second-term achievements and lament that some of his fellow world leaders' countries were “going to hell."
The address was the latest reminder for US allies and foes that the United States - after a four-year interim under the more internationalist President Joe Biden - has returned to an unapologetically “America First” posture with an antagonistic view toward the United Nations.
Trump also sharply criticised the global body for inaction, saying it was filled with “empty words” that “don’t solve wars.”
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump asked. “The UN has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it. It has such tremendous, tremendous potential. But it's not even coming close to living up to that potential.”
Afterward, Trump attempted to assuage fears from some diplomats by assuring the top UN leader that the US remained “100%” supportive of the global body despite his earlier criticism.
“I may disagree with it sometimes, but I am so behind it because the potential for peace at this institution is great,” Trump told Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
It was another about-face after Trump offered a weave of jarring juxtapositions in his address to the assembly.
He trumpeted himself as a peacemaker and enumerated successes of his administration's efforts in several hotspots around the globe. At the same time, Trump heralded his decisions to order the US military to carry out strikes on Iran and more recently against alleged drug smugglers from Venezuela and argued that “globalists” are on the verge of destroying successful nations.
]Warnings about ‘green scam’ and migration
Trump touted his administration's policies allowing for expanded drilling for oil and natural gas in the United States, and aggressively cracking down on illegal immigration, implicitly suggesting more countries should follow suit.
He sharply warned that European nations that have more welcoming migration policies and commit to expensive energy projects aimed at reducing their carbon footprint were causing irreparable harm to their economies and cultures.
“I’m telling you that if you don’t get away from the ‘green energy’ scam, your country is going to fail," Trump said. "If you don’t stop people that you’ve never seen before that you have nothing in common with, your country is going to fail.”
Trump added, “I love the people of Europe, and I hate to see it being devastated by energy and immigration. This double-tailed monster destroys everything in its wake, and they cannot let that happen any longer.”
Dramatic shift on Russia-Ukraine war
Trump also addressed Russia’s war in Ukraine, once again threatening to hit Moscow with “a very strong round of powerful tariffs” if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not come to the table to end the war.
He waited until after the speech, and a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to announce a dramatic shift in his position on the war: He said he now believes Ukraine, with the help of NATO, can win back all territory lost to Russia.
Trump wrote in part in his post. “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form. With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option.”
The strengthened support from Trump, if it sticks, is a huge win for Zelenskyy, who has urged the American president to keep up the pressure on Putin to end his brutal war on Ukraine.
Trump going back to his 2024 campaign insisted that he would quickly end the war. And he’s frequently suggested that US interests in the outcome were limited.
“Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win,” Trump wrote. “This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.’”
Palestinian statehood push
The president also pushed back on long-time American allies who are using this year’s General Assembly to spotlight the growing international campaign for recognition of a Palestinian state, a move that the US and Israel vehemently oppose.
France became the latest nation to recognise Palestinian statehood on Monday at the start of a high-profile meeting at the UN aimed at galvanizing support for a two-state solution to the Mideast conflict.
Trump sharply criticised the effort.
“The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists. This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including October 7.”
The president also took part in a group meeting with officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan for talks focused on ending the Gaza war.
“This is my most important meeting,” Trump said. “But this is the one that’s very important to me because we’re going to end something that should have probably never started.”
Trump pokes at UN for escalator, teleprompter issues
Early in his speech, Trump broke from his prepared remarks to bemoan an inoperable escalator in UN headquarters that he happened upon as well as a defective teleprompter.
“These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” Trump poked, eliciting laughs from delegates and leaders.
A UN official said the United Nations understands that someone from the president’s party who ran ahead of him inadvertently triggered the stop mechanism on the escalator. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the White House was operating the teleprompter for the president.
Oslo dreams
Trump again made clear that he wants to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, repeating his spurious claim that he's "ended seven wars” since he returned to office.
“Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Prize - but for me, the real prize will be the sons and daughters who live to grow up because millions of people are no longer being killed in endless wars."
He regularly points to his administration's efforts to end several conflicts around the world, including fighting between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Egypt and Sudan.
“It's too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them,” Trump said. “Sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try to help in any of them.”
Although Trump helped mediate relations among many of these nations, experts say his impact isn’t as clear cut as he claims.
