President Donald Trump delivered a critical address to the United Nations General Assembly, charging the institution with failing to act to solve spiraling conflicts and immigration woes and deriding its "empty words" that “don’t solve war.”
“All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter," he said, touting his own peacemaking efforts at a moment of heightened strain with U.S. allies over Palestinian statehood, trade and other flash points.
Trump also called climate change concerns a “con job,” saying international agreements to reduce global warming were “destroying” much of the free world with demands that industrialized nations disrupt their societies even as the developing ones continue to defy the rules.
Instead, he urged the nations before him to forge a new path in partnership with Washington, saying he believed the organization "has tremendous potential" while he touted his own successes and sharply criticizing many of theirs.
“I’m really good at this stuff,” he said. "Your countries are going to hell."
Inside the room, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and other leaders listened to Trump speak.
Since his last address to the assembly six years ago, “the guns of war have shattered the peace I forged on two continents,” he said, before he touted his own efforts to bring an end to seven wars and conflicts in seven months.
“I never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal. All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle ... and then a teleprompter that didn’t work," Trump said, alluding to technical issues at the beginning of his remarks Tuesday.
After his speech, Trump is scheduled to meet with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, as well as leaders from Ukraine, Argentina and the European Union, where, he said, many countries stand "on the brink of destruction" because of their green energy projects. He will also take part in a multilateral meeting with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.
Trump said he would soon sit down with Lula, praising their "excellent chemistry."
When Trump addressed the U.N. during his first term, he promised to "reject the ideology of globalism" and urged other countries to join him in a patriotic national embrace. Those remarks drew derisive snickers from the world leaders and dignitaries in the audience.
This year, Trump said he was eager to offer "the hand of American leadership and friendship" to any members of the assembly "willing to join us in forging a safer, more prosperous world."
He urged its support in bringing an end to wars, including in Gaza and Ukraine, but said that to do so, "we must work together.”
While his relationships with many foreign leaders have improved this time around, Trump has not shied from envisioning an expansionary image of American strength while imposing punishing tariffs on friends and foes alike. Some of those tariffs, Trump said, were a retaliatory effort.
"We are hitting them back," he said of Brazil, before he suggested the bilateral relationship could forge a new path out of economic struggle.
"They can only do well when they're working with us; without us, they will fail just as others have failed," he said.
At the same time, the administration has accelerated its pullback from the U.N., slashing its contributions to the organization and, until last week, leaving its ambassadorship vacant. On Friday, a State Department spokesperson called for the U.N. to “get back to basics, reorienting the organization to its origins as an effective tool for advancing peace, sovereignty, and liberty.”
The retreat was on display Sunday and Monday, after France, the U.K., Canada and Australia formally recognized a Palestinian state — with more countries likely to follow this week — breaking with leadership in Washington. Trump “has been very clear he disagrees with this decision,” Leavitt told reporters Monday in a preview of his address.
Trump said in his remarks Tuesday that recognizing Palestinian statehood would amount to "a reward" for Hamas and called for the release of Israeli hostages.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC News’ “TODAY” show that none of the countries that have recognized Palestinian statehood "will play much of a role in bringing about the end of this conflict in Gaza."
"Everybody continues to come to us to make a difference," he said. "Any future resolution of this matter with Israel is going to have to be negotiated. Isn’t going to be up to France or the U.K. or any other country."
Trump has urged European leaders to impose huge tariffs on India and China over their oil purchases to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, calling the failure to do so inexcusable" and "embarrassing."
"They're buying oil and gas from Russia while they're fighting Russia," he said. "They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia; otherwise, we're all wasting a lot of time."
Separately, the United States has imposed its own punishing trade tariffs on India and a new $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. Other leaders have been locked in negotiations with the administration over the tariff regime.
Grappling with unresolved wars in Gaza and Ukraine, which he has pledged to end, Trump has acknowledged his frustrations as the two tasks remain vexingly out of reach, saying recently that Putin “really let me down” about a month after they met in Alaska for talks aimed at progress. The war, ongoing for more than three years, is "making them look bad," he said Tuesday.
Rubio said Trump has "repeatedly expressed his deep disappointment at the direction that Putin is taking this, even after Alaska, and at some point he may have to decide to impose new sanctions."
But he warned that "the minute we go heavy on the sanctions and everything else, our ability to act as a broker to bring about peace is diminished."
