UNITED NATIONS — President Trump tore into the U.N. on Tuesday for doing nothing to help him end decades-old global conflicts, and told delegates in a scathing speech that the organization devoted to world peace is so useless and ineffective it can’t even get its teleprompters and escalators to work.
In a 56-minute speech that blew past his 15-minute allotted time limit, Mr. Trump spared few in the room. He bashed allies and adversaries alike, lecturing them about how poorly they are running their countries and told them to shape up if they want to continue to do business with the U.S.
“I’m really good at this stuff,” Mr. Trump said at the gathering of the U.N. General Assembly. “Your countries are going to hell.”
Mr. Trump took European leaders to task for continuing to buy Russian oil while condemning Moscow’s war on Ukraine. He tore into the Brazilian president, whose administration has prosecuted a Trump ally, saying his country was doing “poorly.” He hammered other countries’ immigration and green-energy policies and insulted the mayor of London.
The president told European allies that recognizing a Palestinian state was rewarding Hamas for its Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.
But Mr. Trump saved his most blistering attacks for the U.N. itself, going so far as to question whether it should even exist.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Mr. Trump asked.
At times, he openly mocked the organization by saying it doesn’t do much beyond “writing a really strongly-worded letter.” He used mechanical failures at the U.N.’s headquarters on Tuesday — an escalator that stopped running just as he and first lady Melania Trump stepped onto it, and a teleprompter that malfunctioned at the start of his speech — as analogies for what he sees as their incompetence.
“These are two things I got from the United Nations — a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” Mr. Trump griped.
He ticked off a list of seven wars he claims to have resolved, and asked why the U.N. didn’t do more to end the conflicts, insisting he didn’t even get a phone call.
“It’s too bad I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them and, sadly, in all cases, the United Nations didn’t even try to help,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “the United Nations wasn’t there for us.”
He zeroed in on the U.N.’s support for international migration and efforts to fight climate change. The U.N. funds an international migration system that provides support and shelter to migrants and refugees worldwide and advocates for an effective asylum system to protect those fleeing hardship in their own countries.
He said immigration was ruining other Western countries.
“The U.N. is supporting people that are illegally coming into the United States, and then we have to get them out. The U.N. also provided food, shelter, transportation and debit cards to illegal aliens,” he said.
The president read off a list of dire climate predictions made decades ago, saying that none had come true, and called climate change “the greatest con job in history.”
The audience in the General Assembly sat largely silent while Mr. Trump harangued them. However, there were a few murmurs when Mr. Trump talked about climate change and migration.
Since returning to office, Mr. Trump has made clear his disdain for the U.N. He has pulled the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council, clawed back $1 billion in funding to the U.N. and told Congress he plans to rescind another $1 billion, contributing to a funding shortfall at the U.N. He also ordered a review of America’s role in the organization.
On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the General Assembly by saying the cuts were “wreaking havoc” with the U.N.’s efforts to provide humanitarian aid and other services.
“They are a death sentence for many. For so many more: a stolen future,” he said.
Mr. Trump did soften his stance during a meeting with Mr. Guterres, saying the organization has “great potential” and that the U.S. was “100 percent” behind the U.N.
The president’s address was the marquee event of the U.N. General Assembly, a weeklong summit at its New York headquarters where world leaders come together to discuss critical global issues.
Even as he aired his grievances, Mr. Trump did make some time to discuss policy in his remarks. He announced a new effort to end the development of biological and nuclear weapons by using artificial-intelligence verification. He offered few details about the initiative.
He also spent the day meeting with roughly 30 other world leaders after his address in the main hall. He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European Union Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen and several Middle Eastern leaders.
The meeting with the leaders of the predominantly Arab or Muslim nations comes at a critical time for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Israel has escalated its offensive into Gaza City, and the U.N. has launched an inquiry into whether the excursion amounts to genocide.
The Arab countries have offered their own proposals to rebuild Gaza as the center of a future Palestinian state. Some of the U.S.’s closest allies, including France, Australia, Great Britain and Canada, now recognize Palestine as a state, a move Mr. Trump slammed during his speech, saying it’s an impediment to peace.
Mr. Trump told the countries recognizing a Palestinian state that they should instead unite around pressuring Hamas to release the hostages.
After Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Zelenskyy, the president shifted his stance on the Ukraine war, now saying he believes Kyiv can not only regain the territory it has lost to Russia, but can win the war.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.