Trump's middle finger to the UN: "Your countries are going to hell"
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President Trump addresses the UN. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images
President Trump had a harsh message for fellow world leaders at the UN General Assembly today: "Your countries are going to hell!"
Why it matters: In Trump's depiction, the U.S. is in a "golden age" — but every other country, particularly Western European allies, are collapsing due to immigration, unreliable green energy sources and weak leadership."
Trump said he's demonstrated how to end wars, build the world's "hottest" economy — and shut down immigration, which he told fellow leaders was "destroying your country."
- They'd be wise to take his MAGA agenda back home with them, he advised.
Zoom in: After rolling through his usual talking points on his "sleepy," "weak" predecessor and the prosperity he'd unleashed, Trump trained his fire on the UN itself.
- Trump said the UN hasn't made any headway in ending any conflict anywhere in the world. "What is the purpose of the United Nations?" he asked. "All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter."
- He said UN officials "didn't know what they were doing when it came to construction either," because they picked another bid over his to rebuild the UN complex years ago.
- Trump drew laughter after taking the stage by saying whoever was running the faulty teleprompter was "in big trouble." Later in the speech, he ad-libbed: "These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter."
Trump's tone grew darker. "Not only is the UN not solving the problems it should. Too often, it's actually creating new problems for us to solve. The best example is the No. 1 political issue of our time, the crisis of uncontrolled migration," he said.
- Trump zoomed in on Europe, saying the continent is being "invaded by a force of illegal aliens like no one has seen before," societies are being ripped apart, and London is moving toward Sharia Law.
- "It's time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now. I can tell you, I'm really good at this stuff: Your countries are going to hell."
By the end of the 57-minute speech, nearly quadruple his official time slot, Trump was drifting farther from his prepared remarks and often from factual reality.
- Trump called climate change "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world," claimed the Biden administration had "lost more than 300,000 children" to human trafficking, and said many countries were "on the brink of destruction" due to their reliance on green energy.
- With a few exceptions, Trump garnered very little applause from the leaders and diplomats in the room. But that hardly seemed to be his aim.
State of play: On the biggest global flashpoints, Trump stuck to the same script.
- He called for an end to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine while criticizing European countries for buying Russian oil and recognizing a Palestinian state.
- Trump did announce one new initiative: He said he'll lead an international effort to end the development of biological weapons.
What's next: Trump said he'd bumped into Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for "39 seconds" as he was making his way to the stage, and they'd agreed to meet next week. The two have clashed over the prosecution of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro.
- Later today, he'll meet with the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina and the EU and will convene a group of Arab and Muslim leaders for a conference on Gaza.
- This evening, he'll host a reception of world leaders before departing for Washington after just 24 hours at the weeklong General Assembly.
Go deeper: The unprecedented presidency.
