US President Donald Trump blasted the United Nations and Europe on his return to the world body Tuesday, warning that Western countries were “going to hell” because of migration and calling climate change a “con job.” In a blistering speech during his first UN General Assembly appearance since his White House comeback, Trump also accused the world body of failing to help him as he tried to broker a series of peace deals, including in Gaza and Ukraine.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” asked Trump in a wide-ranging speech lasting nearly an hour. “It has such tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that.” Trump’s first speech to the UN back in 2018 saw fellow leaders laughing at the Republican, but this time his full-frontal attack on the global organization and US allies was received in near total silence.
The 79-year-old’s litany of complaints even extended to a broken escalator and teleprompter at the New York headquarters of the UN, which he has repeatedly targeted during both of his presidential terms. “These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” he said. Trump began his speech by criticizing the UN for failing to get involved in what he claims are seven wars that he has ended or in his failed efforts to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza.
“All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter,” he said. “It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.”
He then called recognition by a slate of Washington’s allies of a Palestinian state a “reward” to Hamas for “horrible atrocities” in the armed group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Trump had more harsh words for European allies for failing to stop oil purchases from Russia. He criticized China and India on the same score—but Moscow itself escaped relatively lightly. His strongest language was reserved for blasting migration, one of the core political messages that has driven his two US election victories.
Trump lambasted the UN for “funding an assault” on Western nations that he described as an “invasion.”
