Once again, on Tuesday, September 23, Donald Trump took advantage of the platform offered by the United Nations General Assembly, held in New York every year, to express his deep contempt for the institution, the embodiment of multilateralism, which is now beset by several crises. He even added a new, outlandish accusation to the list, claiming the UN was fueling the crisis of uncontrolled immigration. Trump also targeted European countries, accusing them of being passive in the face of this immigration and of fostering distrust toward fossil fuels – a stance that directly conflicts with the climate and scientific denialism that currently prevails in Washington.
No one can dispute the fact that the UN is struggling. Its marginalization and powerlessness to affect the world's major ongoing conflicts, be they in Ukraine, Gaza or Sudan, serve as unfortunate daily reminders of its troubles. The rise of groups such as the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization also reflects the frustration among Global South countries toward the organization, which is seen as incapable of reforming itself, largely due to resistance from Global North countries.
In New York, Trump did not miss the opportunity to castigate a malfunctioning escalator and teleprompter – two symbols that, according to him, mirrored the institution's dilapidated state. Yet, for the metaphor to not be a misleading one, he should have noted that his country, which still does not have a UN ambassador confirmed by the Senate, suspended its financial contributions to the institution from the moment he returned to the White House.
Indeed, examining the roots of this paralysis inevitably leads to highlighting the responsibility of the United States, the country that set the precedent for force to have supremacy over international law with its 2003 invasion of Iraq. That same country now paralyzes the UN Security Council, which no longer reflects the wider world when it comes to matters involving Israel.
During his first address to the UN General Assembly in 2017, the US president praised national sovereignty, reiterating the "America First" slogan that brought him to power. He invited his peers to follow his example, without ever managing to explain how a collection of self-serving interests and national egotism could automatically come to serve the common good.
The deadlock has become glaringly apparent this year. His tirade, which was painful to hear, disjointed and rife with the usual falsehoods and obsessions that characterize his campaign speeches, came after Washington unilaterally launched a trade war that affected much of the globe. The lecture he delivered to the nations on September 23 also followed the brutal elimination of US international aid programs, the devastating effects of which are now beginning to be felt. Trump's latest about-face on Ukraine, as he now claims that Kyiv is capable of retaking all the territory that Russia had conquered, has only increased the confusion.
"Making a better life for our people also requires us to work together in close harmony and unity to create a more safe and peaceful future for all people," Trump said in 2017. Eight years later, having once again become the US president, he gave the embarrassing impression of being a passenger who rails and grumbles about the aimless drift of a ship, after having made its rudder unusable and slashed its sails.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.