The United States President Donald Trump Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday for the first time since 2020, combining personal anecdotes with criticism of the institution and claims about his administration’s role in ending global conflicts.
Trump made the UN audience laugh from the very first second of his speech by pointing out a technical malfunction. “I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter because the teleprompter is not working,” he said. “I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.” He added that this way, “you speak more from the heart.”
He brought along a paper copy of his remarks in big, clear writing.
The president then recalled his experiences at UN headquarters in New York. “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,” he said. “If the First Lady wasn’t in great shape, she would’ve fallen. But she’s in great shape. We’re both in good shape. We both stood.”
Trump linked the faulty equipment to a broader point about the UN’s performance. “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 it,” he said. “What is the purpose of the United Nations? It’s not even coming close to living up to its potential... it’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve wars.”
He added that the UN “was not there for us” during negotiations to end conflicts. “The UN did not even try to help,” Trump said.
The president then listed what he called seven conflicts claiming credit for ending them during his second term so far: between Cambodia and Thailand; Kosovo and Serbia; Pakistan and India; Israel and Iran; Egypt and Ethiopia; Armenia and Azerbaijan; and the “vicious violent war” between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
“No other president has ever done anything close to that,” he said, adding that people had told him these conflicts were “unendable.”
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