President Donald Trump shamed the United Nations Tuesday in a blistering speech, noting that he has personally brokered the end of seven wars during his first seven months in office with no help from the U.N.
Ending wars is supposed to be the U.N.’s job. Formed in 1945 after World War II, the U.N. exists to “to maintain international peace and security.” It is for “solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion,” according to the U.N. Charter. But much like NATO, formed in 1949 to guard against the Soviet Union and stop the spread of Communism, the U.N. has lost sight of it mission.
As Trump said in his address to the General Assembly, the U.N. has funded massive migration efforts that are changing the cultures and destabilizing host countries in Europe and the U.S.
Trump said he ended seven wars that were considered “unendable,” with “countless thousands of people being killed.” He listed Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, The Congo and Rwanda, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia.
In some cases, the peace is fragile, but at least Trump has stimulated new conversations and attempted to stop the killings.
“No president or prime minister, and for that matter, no other country has ever done anything close to that,” Trump said. “And sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try help in any of them. I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal.”
Then Trump asked the most obvious, and damaging, question.
“I saved millions of lives and realized the United Nations wasn’t there for us. Not during these negotiations, which were not easy. That being the case, what is the purpose of the United Nations?”
It has tremendous potential, but it is not living up to that potential, Trump said. “All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war. The only thing that solves war and wars is action.”
Trump reminded the U.N. General Assembly that he was behind the Abraham Accords meant to foster peace in the Middle East, and the U.S. got no credit for that achievement.
He suggested he should get the Nobel Peace Prize.
“But for me, the real prize will be the sons and daughters who live to grow up with their mothers and fathers, because millions of people are no longer being killed in endless and inglorious wars. What I care about is not winning prizes, it’s saving lives. We saved millions and millions of lives [ending] the seven wars,” he said.
Trump appealed to the General Assembly to help end ongoing wars. He mentioned the war between Hamas and Israel, and that some of the nations represented in that room plan to recognize a Palestinian state, which, he said, would reward Hamas for its “horrible atrocities, including Oct. 7.” Hamas has refused to release all the hostages or accept a ceasefire, Trump said.
“Instead of giving in to Hamas’s ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message, ‘release the hostages now. Just release the hostages.’”
The crowd applauded at the call to release the hostages.
In the Russia-Ukraine War, China and India continue to purchase Russian oil, but they are not Russia’s only customers.
“Inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products…think of it— They’re funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one?” Trump said.
If a deal to end the war is not struck, Trump said the U.S. is “fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs, which would stop the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly.” For for those tariffs to work, he said European nations would have to adopt the same measures.
They can’t be doing what they’re doing. They’re buying oil and gas from Russia while they’re fighting Russia.
Perhaps because of private conversations while at the U.N., before the day was over, Trump posted about Russia and Ukraine, calling Russia a paper tiger and committing to supplying Ukraine with weapons.