President Donald Trump used his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to defend an increasingly interventionist foreign policy, casting himself as a leader willing to use American military, diplomatic and economic power while declaring that the United States would continue to put its own interests first.
“While others have talked, I have acted,” Trump said. “While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace. While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them.”
President Trump’s speech at the UN
(Video: UN web tv)
Much of the speech focused on Iran and the nearly seven-month war that has reshaped the Middle East and disrupted global energy markets. Trump defended his decision to go to war alongside Israel earlier this year and said Tehran had rejected previous efforts to reach an agreement that would prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Trump said he now faced what he called a “big decision” over whether to reach a deal that would allow Iran to recover or move toward far more destructive military action.
“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” he asked, before saying he nevertheless expected an agreement after the November midterm elections.
Trump said Iranian leaders were waiting to see how Republicans performed in the midterms, though he stressed that he himself was not on the ballot.
“The Republican Party is running, and I’m going to help them,” he said, adding that his principal concern remained ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.
He also rejected reports that concerns over depleted US ammunition and interceptor stocks were constraining his military options, saying the United States possessed large quantities of weapons and was replenishing them rapidly.
(Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
Trump called on other countries to join Washington in economically isolating Iran until it ends attacks on commercial shipping, abandons its nuclear ambitions and stops supporting terrorism.
The war with Iran has complicated Trump’s effort to portray his foreign policy as a series of successful peace interventions. The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House is seeking to present his international record as a collection of tangible wins for Americans ahead of the midterms, even as the wars involving Iran and Ukraine continue to weigh on energy prices and global trade.
Trump invokes Oct. 7 and Gaza deal
Trump also invoked Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, accusing Iran of supporting the terrorists responsible and arguing that Tehran could never be permitted to operate under the protection of a nuclear arsenal.
He said Iran’s supreme leader had celebrated the massacre and described the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic as one the United States could not ignore.
Trump then pointed to Gaza as evidence of what he described as his ability to turn conflict into negotiated outcomes.
(Photo: Brendan Smialowski-Pool/Getty Images)
He recalled that when he addressed the General Assembly a year earlier, the Gaza war was still underway and hostages remained in Hamas captivity. His administration’s 20-point plan was later endorsed by the UN Security Council, and the Board of Peace was established to oversee the postwar framework. The board says the ceasefire brought the return of all hostages and is now focused on demilitarization, Palestinian civilian administration, reconstruction and humanitarian assistance.
Trump thanked Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other countries contributing to Gaza, saying their money was reaching areas where humanitarian needs remain acute.
He also praised countries that have committed personnel, police or training to Gaza stabilization efforts, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Jordan.
The Board of Peace is scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the General Assembly to review implementation of the Gaza framework and discuss its next priorities.
Ukraine, Greenland and Venezuela next
Trump devoted less time to Russia’s war against Ukraine, saying his administration was continuing efforts to bring the conflict to an end.
His diplomatic agenda after the speech underscored how much unfinished business remains.
He was scheduled to meet separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Gulf leaders, with the Iran war expected to feature prominently in the regional discussions. The continuing conflicts in Iran and Ukraine have both contributed to pressure on global energy markets.
Trump was also expected to sign an agreement expanding the US military and commercial presence in Greenland after nearly two years of pressure on Denmark, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Another meeting was set with Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, whose government has entered into an arrangement giving the Pentagon a stake in the country’s oil sector. Trump has argued that closer US involvement in Venezuelan energy production will help lower fuel prices at home.
The meeting is politically sensitive because Rodríguez was a senior figure in the government of Nicolás Maduro, who was removed in a US military operation earlier this year. Trump has emphasized cooperation with Rodríguez while moving more slowly on a transition to democratic government, according to the Journal.
Xi summit looms
Trump’s UN appearance also comes on the eve of a three-day state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The two leaders are expected to discuss artificial intelligence, rare earth minerals and Taiwan, among other issues. The Journal reported that Trump, who previously took a more confrontational approach toward Beijing, is now seeking a less adversarial relationship and wants to avoid a deepening economic and military confrontation.
The summit is expected to focus heavily on optics and the broader relationship rather than major new agreements.
Trump’s packed schedule reflects the contrast at the heart of his UN message: he presented himself as a president who has already delivered peace through decisive action, even as some of the largest crises he has confronted remain unresolved.
His Iran policy captures that tension most clearly. Trump threatened Tehran with potentially devastating consequences while simultaneously predicting that diplomacy would ultimately prevail.
“The president is open to a meeting with him or anybody,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ahead of the speech, while cautioning that Iran’s supreme leader remains the country’s ultimate decision-maker.
For Trump, the message to the General Assembly was that willingness to negotiate and willingness to use force are not contradictory elements of his foreign policy.
“While others have spoken of peace,” he told world leaders, “I have made peace.”