New York: US President Donald Trump has earlier hit the United Nations hard with massive cuts in US foreign aid, slashing half a billion dollars from the UN budget and putting 20 percent of UN staff at risk of layoffs. This backdrop set the stage for another attack.
He began his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with harsh words on September 23. “Very, very strong, negative words about the UN,” he said.
UN staff had no advance copy. The secretary-general listened. Observers watched as Trump criticised the escalator, the teleprompter and the building itself. The escalator had stopped, he said. The teleprompter did not work.
Sources, however, confirmed it was a US-supplied teleprompter, not UN equipment.
The speech stretched on for 55 minutes, far past the 15-minute guideline. Trump returned to two issues he called the world’s defining crises: immigration and the cost of renewable energy.
“In closing, I just want to repeat that immigration and the high cost of so-called green renewable energy is destroying a large part of the free world and a large part of our planet,” he said, adding, “Countries that cherish freedom are fading fast because of their policies on these two subjects. You need strong borders and traditional energy sources if you are going to be great again, whether you have come from north or south, east or west, near or far.”
He shifted the focus to himself, highlighting his ambitions for a Nobel Peace Prize and asserting his claims to global leadership. “So together, let us uphold our sacred duty to our people and to our citizens. Let us protect their borders, ensure their safety, preserve their cultures, treasure their traditions and fight, fight, fight for their precious dreams and their cherished freedom,” he said.
“It will happen, and I hope it can happen and start right now, right at this moment, we will turn it around to make our countries better, safer and more beautiful,” he continued.
He highlighted his encounter with Brazil’s Lula. “We embraced when we saw one another entering the UN building and agreed to meet next week. He seemed like a nice guy,” Trump said.
Trump highlighted his tough stance on Brazil, pointing to steep tariffs and sanctions on judicial officials, while describing former President Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison sentence as a “witch hunt”.
The US president delivered a harsh critique on migration policies, singling out Germany, Greece and Switzerland. “Your countries are going to hell. In America, we have taken bold action to swiftly shut down uncontrolled migration…they simply stopped coming,” he said.
The US military also got praise. “To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” he declared.
Green energy drew attacks. Climate change became the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”. Renewable energy is expensive, ineffective a “green scam”. “If you do not get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail,” he warned.
Trump shifted to biological weapons, AI verification systems and global enforcement. “I am calling on every nation to join us in ending the development of biological weapons once and for all. Hopefully, the UN can play a constructive role,” he said.
Ukraine appeared repeatedly. Trump claimed his friendship with Russian President Valadimir Putin could have ended the war sooner. He criticised European Union (EU) nations for continuing Russian energy purchases.
He targeted London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan. Trump claimed he wanted to impose Sharia law there.
The United Nations itself faced harsh judgment. “These are the two things I got from the United Nations, a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. It is too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them…all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up,” he said.
Immigration remained a constant theme. Trump thanked El Salvador for detaining migrants. He warned other nations they faced “the exact same situation” and said migration was destroying their countries.
On Gaza, Trump urged a ceasefire. “We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately. We have to stop it. We have to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back…We want actually the 38 dead bodies back too,” he said.
Trump recounted Operation Midnight Hammer, describing how B2 bombers targeted Iran and obliterated key nuclear facilities. “No other country on earth could have done what we did,” he claimed, while analysts said that Tehran’s nuclear programme was actually set back by only a few months.
The US president repeatedly criticised what he described as UN inefficiency, highlighting unresolved wars and ceasefires that he claimed were achieved by his own efforts rather than the United Nations. He even cited minor issues such as teleprompters and escalators as examples. “What is the purpose of the United Nations? The UN has such tremendous potential… but it is not even coming close to living up to their potential,” he said.
Trump’s attacks on former President Joe Biden followed a familiar pattern, accusing him of weakness, lawlessness and radicalism. He claimed that these failures had delivered America into a state of disaster.
Every moment of the speech emphasised Trump’s narrative. A negative lens on the United Nations, other countries, climate science, migration and global leadership. His message remained consistent: the world is failing, the UN is ineffective and only he can fix it.