
By David Curran
The assembled United Nations dignitaries gave Donald Trump 13 seconds of applause as he approached the podium for his address to the 80th anniversary general debate on September 23. They clapped for 20 seconds when he finished speaking.
In between, having been asked to confine his remarks to 15 minutes (like all other speakers), the US president gave the room a lengthy address that lasted 57 minutes. It veered from the many shortcomings of the previous US administrations, to why UN migration policies were ruining the world, to the climate change “con job”, to a warning to the assembled leaders that “your countries are going to hell”.
At points in between, Trump congratulated himself, for turning the US into the “hottest country anywhere in the world”, for repelling a “colossal invasion” of migrants at America’s southern border and for ending seven wars – for which he repeated his line that he should have been given the Nobel peace prize.
He also savaged the UN, which he said “did not even try to help in any” of the conflicts. “The UN is 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. For the most part, at least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up.” He added: “Empty words don’t solve war.”
Questioning whether the UN could play a productive role, Trump offered “the hand of American leadership and friendship to any nation in this assembly that is willing to join us in forging a safer, more prosperous world”. In other words, UN-led multilateralism is out, to be replaced, perhaps, by a series of bilateral relationships dominated by the US.
Eight decades after its founding in the wake of the second world war, it is not a good time for the UN. It is currently mired in a budget crisis: US$2.4 billion (£1.77 billion) in unpaid dues from member states against an overall budget of US$3.5 billion for 2025. Of this, the US owes the most, about US$1.5 billion.
The Trump administration is applying a much-reduced budget that includes zero funding for UN peacekeeping operations. This decision has been made despite the fact that the US has an obligation to pay at least one-quarter of the UN’s peacekeeping costs. It has also paused most other funding to the body.
Trump’s speech did not shy away from other issues of critical importance. He highlighted the need to “stop the war” in Gaza and negotiate peace. He also chastised Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. But his views on these conflicts were largely aimed at individual states as opposed to the UN – and multilateralism – in general.
When it came to Gaza, he was critical of the states that “unilaterally” recognised Palestinian statehood. Talking about Ukraine, Trump criticised European states for not cutting off purchases of Russian energy and energy products. The UN, and its efforts in addressing these catastrophic situations, was not mentioned.
Migration and climate
But Trump was most savage when it came to migration. He opened his section on migration by stating that “your countries are being ruined”, stating: “The United Nations is funding an assault on western countries and their borders.” Claiming that the UN provides cash assistance towards migrants journeying to the US, Trump then stated: “The UN is supposed to stop invasions, not create them.”
The rest of his discussion on migration was aimed at Europe. Within that he offered unsubstantiated claims about London – with whose mayor, Sadiq Khan, he has a longstanding disagreement: “Now they want to go to sharia law” he said.
His language here will (rightly) cause considerable concern for many. It may reflect his belief in the role of sovereign borders, particularly in the US. But the attachment – in particular with regards to European states – of the idea of sovereignty to a way of life that is somehow endangered by migration is one which could embolden anti-migrant sentiment on a global level.
Trump’s views on climate change will also grab headlines. Interestingly though, given his other criticisms of the UN, while he called climate science and the idea of man-made global warming “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”, his scorn wasn’t particularly aimed at the UN.
Granted, the UN has been in the driving seat for many of the steps taken in attempting to tackle the climate crisis – so by implication, the UN was in the US president’s sights. But he instead he took the opportunity to direct his slurs towards China which – he said – builds wind turbines “and they send them all over the world but they barely use them”.
So what can be taken from this? It may not have been a worst-case scenario for those who support international cooperation. He didn’t explicitly pull the US out of any other UN programmes.
But there’s very little to take reassurance from a multilateral perspective when viewing Trump’s 57 minutes at the lectern. In his view, the UN is not up to speed with attempts to build peace, it doesn’t function properly, it’s secondary to bilateral efforts, and – when it comes to the US – it has supported an “invasion” by migrants.
And, reading between the lines, Trump’s perspectives on sovereignty, climate change and migration may embolden other political leaders who want to push similar agendas. It has the danger of going beyond rhetoric.
The US president’s disdain for multilateralism and the UN system may mean other members reprioritise their budgets, cutting funding still further. This would further fracture a UN system which is already seriously under pressure.
David Curran is a Research Fellow in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding at Coventry University.

Pogo says
Tired of it says
What an embarrassment to this great country.
Jake from state farm says
President Donald Trump speech was powerful and unapologetic. It emphasized the importance of national sovereignty, fair trade, and strong borders. He reinforced America’s commitment to peace, prosperity, and global cooperation—on terms that respect each nation’s right to govern itself. He also shared how useless the UN is.
He championed patriotism over globalism, calling on every country to put its people first while still working together on shared challenges. From standing firm on the need to confront rogue regimes, to calling out unfair trade practices, Trump made it clear: the U.S. will lead by example, but it will no longer be taken advantage of.
Whether you agree or not, there’s no denying the speech was bold, clear, and deeply rooted in his “America First” philosophy
Laurel says
Hey four dimensional chess playing genius:
ə-sē″tə-mĭn′ə-fən
My God, the embarrassment never ends.
Skibum says
Drumph’s tirade was just another look at me, I’m extremely petty and petulant, but by God I rule the entire world and you all are NOTHING compared to me!… “speech”, if you can even call it that. The latest disgusting example of human excrement vomiting poop from his pie hole, trying to impress the world’s leaders with his self-centered, imperialistic importance. What a pompous fool that little man is!!!
Sherry says
Unfortunately, I happened on to trump’s chest pounding, almost incoherent ramblings to those whose expressions looked as if they were “bored out of their minds”. Listening for 57 minutes to an insecure child whose every word was braggadocio lies about what he’s convinced Maga cult members to believe are his accomplishments. . . OR. . . “put downs” of every other country/leader simply to bolster his own extremely fragile ego. How “Incredibly Embarrassing” for our country!!!
Sherry says
I should have said “old man incoherent ramblings”, because that is precisely what they were!
Laurel says
His speech was an idiotic embarrassment. His snowflake ego kept him in the spotlight for over 50 minutes instead of the requested 15! Extremely predictable.
The new trade routes, and deals made by other countries with countries other than us, has already begun. Trump has broken deals with countries that has taken decades for us to build, and they may never trust us again. Would you?
You know he’s a piece of work, yet you continue to cover, and make excuses for him. Amazing!
john stove says
People will be showing video clips of his stupidity, lies and petty name calling for years to come. The Republicans and Trumpo will forever be remembered as the worst period of any political party and the most moronic, imbecilic president in the history of the USA.
Kennan says
Laurel, Sherry and Skibum,
Thank you, thank you thank you!
I may weigh in later if I can figure out where to even begin. Great job you guys! Thanks for keeping it real as usual.
Kennan says
Thank you as well, Pogo!
Common sense is in short supply. Thank you!
Ed P says
Criticisms above ,almost universally, describe the speech as subjectively embarrassing, without any objective review.
Would any other world leader dare to directly address the UN?
What about the substance of the speech? Were there any points of merit?
Political correctness is always preferable but so are results. Trump’s persona is universally accepted by other world leaders. Whether they like him or not is irrelevant because other nations understand they have to deal with him. No choice.
They also heard him. No laughter now. No walk out.
His points were delivered.
Calling out the hypocrisy of funding Russia by continually purchasing energy from Russia has pushed the war into year 4.
The hypocrisy of the participation of China and India in any green energy agreement was also important. Neither of them are reducing but increasing their CO2 output.
The hypocrisy of impotent speeches without action was exposed as the corner stone of the United Nations.
Any merit in those truths?
Laurel says
Ed P: “To think that we settled … uh … “Aber … baijan and Albania, as an example.”
You do a good job of intellectualizing for Trump. He needs a lot of help there. A lot. Too bad we don’t have a President who is already smart.
Laurel says
Drop one quotation mark, please. At least I’m not in front of the UN.
Skibum says
Ed P, who are you kidding?! My God, man, you might as well suggest that our current government convene a panel to debate whether or not the earth is actually flat, simply because we have some absolute MORONS who continue to believe such a thing.
Then set up another government sponsored panel to discuss the efficacy of injecting bleach as an alternative approach to vaccines, as if brain dead ignoramuses like the current occupier of the WH should even open his pie hole and suggest such a stupid and dangerous falsehood!
To suggest there were merits to drumph’s sometimes incoherent blabber while standing before the world’s leaders at the U.N. would be to give importance and substance to nonsense! You would be better off standing in front of your bathroom mirror and debating “the merits” of both sides with yourself.
Again… who are you kidding?! Count me out!
Sherry says
Extremely well said Skibum and Laurel, Thank You!
Ed P says
Skibum,
So China, India, Russia, and Indonesia accelerating green house gases to an all time high is not valid? The United States should hobble our economy and strangle GDP trying to further reduce our carbon output while those nations continue to increase?
The world purchasing energy from Russia has not given Putin the financial resources to sustain a protracted war and the mild sanctions placed upon him by European nations were strong enough?
And the United Nations is not a paper tiger?
You are the one who is out of step with reality.
Laurel,
I’m objective and pointing out the facts. The unrelenting negativity of everything even remotely Trump ( like 3rd cousins by marriage remote) has blocked the ability to see anything positive. It’s moved past the point of being intellectually dishonest. It’s teetering on lie laundering via false inference.
YankeeExPat says
And Trump will be there to greet them !
Don.t worry Palm Coast Trumpsters,……..You will be there too!
Please be sure to load up your YETI coolers with lots of cold Sweet Tea for the trip.
Laurel says
Ed P: You are not the provider of all things factual, clearly. I have not “… moved past the point of being intellectually dishonest. It’s teetering on lie laundering via false inference.” That was a subjective, not objective, response to my comment.
I watched the speech, and Trump is a bumbling moron, in my opinion. Had President Biden said the exact same speech, he would be called out by outraged Republicans! They would have remarked on his senility, but Trump? No. He’s bold.
His egotistical rant was embarrassing in front of the world. After all, he represents us in their eyes. He didn’t know the countries he supposedly ended wars in, and his lack of knowledge of geography should have been researched before he read his speech. He insulted all around him. He insulted our country. I would not cherry pick little instances of possible logic.
Nice try attacking me, but it won’t fly.
Ed P says
Laurel,
Your response to my opinion of the lefts’ propensity to use false inferences to lie launder was not specifically targeted at you. It’s my generalization of the chronic drumbeat from the left.
I believe they have painted themselves into the proverbial corner, at times abandoning even common sense. They’ve moved beyond intellectual dishonesty to lying by inference, rather than outright lying. That is just a stones throw away. Proof is in their inability to acknowledge anything positive coming from the Trump administration. Unicorn rare.
Parsing words, looking for gotcha moments, exaggerating, and lying is not patently Trump or the right, it’s universal and being used as the tools of choice to silence the other side. The right is also inflicted with the disease. It’s a world wide pandemic and unlike Covid it is not novel.
Debate is dead. The right bemoans the lunatic left. The left declares radical right. Both sides asking themselves how can the other side be so blind, stupid or unable to see reality.
Bastardized perceptions.
Not so long ago. People could agree to disagree. Remember when there were 2 sides to every coin? Truth used to reside somewhere in between.
Truth has morphed or worse, metastasized, to be subjective. Truth rarely contains absolute values today. If truth is now an opinion, it’s easy to see how someone’s reality may not be real.
Laurel says
You cannot debate injecting bleach.
Sherry, Pogo, Ray W and others have provided facts, repeatedly. Something Trump supporters are mum on.
Laurel says
By the way, I don’t know the political preference of each person I did mention, other than myself (Independent), but I feel fairly confident that Independents, Democrats and Republicans were included. So, we’re not all “the radical right” or “the looney left” by anyone’s standards. None of us have provided Kellyann Conway’s “alternate facts.”
Sherry says
Good Morning Laurel. . . very well said!
Somehow, many core Maga cult members simply no longer perceive reality through a fact based perspective. It’s obvious that “credentialed facts” simply stand in the way of their passionate devotion to all things related to their lord and master trump.
They are cheering on the moral decay of our citizens as part of the negative fascist radicalization of our society. The ongoing harsh reactions displayed by charlie kirk crusaders is clear evidence that the “Culture Wars”, which represent the death of personal principles, are now much more important to them than the loss of lives in actual wars like those in Ukraine and Gaza.
Although everything should be relative and in context, in their “Alternative Reality, the ends now justify the means:
trump is a documented “massive” liar= “Dems witch hunt”= Facts/Honesty/Truth DEAD
trump is a “Criminally Convicted Felon”= “not for fraud”= Facts/Honesty/Truth DEAD
trump is guilty of “Sexual Assault”= “just a civil case”/”technically not rape”= Facts/Honesty/Truth DEAD
trump is the only President to be Impeached Twice= “he was exonerated”= Facts/Honesty/Truth DEAD
Ken Frymyer says
may GOD Bless President Donald J Trump !!! our Greatest leader ever !!
Ed P says
Laurel/Sherry,
Not a policy or suggestion in sight.
Nothing to debate.
Skibum says
Laurel, I too am an Independent. So Ed P, Jake from State Farm, Jimbo XYZ and others like them who love to call me a liberal or far left are way out of the ballpark. And they would be aghast at how many other Independents, other centrists, are totally, 100% committed to ensuring those maga politicians who have been doing drumph’s bidding in violation of the U.S. Constitution are NOT re-elected.
Ed P says
Skibum,
If you are a centrist, who in the hell has been using your moniker to write your posts?
“Come on man, no joke, I mean it”. President Joe Biden.
A centrist is first and foremost pragmatic with a moderate ideology.
Dogma and far left lean is a far better description.
Laurel says
Ed P: “Laurel/Sherry,
Not a policy or suggestion in sight.
Nothing to debate.”
Okay, let’s debate “They’re [Haitians, from “Haitia”] eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
Go ahead, you first.