US President Donald Trump strongly defended the war with Iran, giving its regime a choice between reaching a deal to strip it of its ability to manufacture a nuclear weapon, and giving its regime a choice between reaching a deal that ends its nuclear program and its “bullying” in the Middle East, or exposure to “mass destruction,” praising what he considered “progress” toward peace while building a “global order that is more and more consistent” with the interests of “America First.”
In his sixth speech as president on the green marble podium of the General Assembly, in its eighty-first annual session, President Trump spoke about the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, announcing its strong return, describing it as economically, militarily, and technologically dominant. Trump also highlighted tax cuts and deregulation, saying that they contributed to attracting unprecedented investments to his country. He stressed that the US-Mexican border has become the safest in American history.
Regarding foreign policy, Trump presented his administration as an active administration that is not satisfied with negotiations, and said: “While others were satisfied with talking, I took action” to confront threats and use force to resolve long-term international conflicts.
Describing Iran as “the main sponsor of terrorism in the world,” he accused the Iranian regime of decades of violence throughout the Middle East, adding that “for 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled with blood and mass murder, spreading death, destruction, and chaos throughout the Middle East and beyond.” He repeated: “I will never allow Iran to possess a nuclear weapon.”
According to Trump, his administration first sought to negotiate with Iran, offering “full economic cooperation” in exchange for an end to its nuclear program and support for terrorism. But Iran rejected this proposal. Noting the US military strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, he stated that Iran’s actions also threatened international navigation, especially in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
But Trump put Iran before what he described as a fateful choice. He asked: “Will an agreement be reached with Iran that allows it to rebuild and create a much greater country than it was before, perhaps one of the greatest countries in the Middle East or even the world?” He added: “Or will I wipe out Iran, and quickly?” Despite this threat, Trump expressed his belief that “we will reach an agreement as soon as the elections are over, because it is illogical for them not to do so.”
American munitions
Trump sought to allay concerns about US military stockpiles. He said: “Cowards and traitors want to claim that the United States suffers from a shortage of ammunition, but this is not true. We have more ammunition than we need.” He revealed that 18 new munitions factories are being built, and called on all countries to “join us in imposing complete economic isolation on Iran,” calling on Tehran to stop its attacks on commercial ships, abandon its nuclear ambitions, and end its support for terrorism.
Trump also spoke about Gaza, presenting his administration's efforts there as another example of his approach to dealing with international conflicts. He said: “A year ago, when I addressed the great leaders in this hall, the war in Gaza was still brutally raging. The hostages were still trapped in the Hamas tunnels, and there was no end in sight. He added: “We ended the war in Gaza, and saved thousands of lives. We also returned all the remaining hostages, living and dead, all of them without exception.” He also praised the Security Council's approval of the “peace plan for Gaza,” and said that about 30 countries had joined the “peace council.”
The “fall” of Cuba
Speaking about his country's foreign policy, the US President said that Cuba, which is subject to an American blockade, "will fall," stressing his administration's desire to see "radical change" on the communist-ruled island. Trump said, “The communist regime is under strong pressure, the strongest it has ever known (...) It will fall.” He added that “freedom will reach Cuba,” noting that Washington is conducting negotiations with Havana.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez responded angrily to the US President's statements, describing his words as "lies." Rodriguez, whose country's delegation left the hall during the US President's speech, wrote that "the United States government is unable to accept that Cuba is an independent, fully sovereign state and has the right to do so," adding: "None of the lies that the US President has told before the United Nations will hide this truth."
Trump's broader message to the United Nations was clear and unambiguous: He emphasized that American power is leading a new era of diplomacy and security. Trump repeated his harsh criticism of the United Nations, pointing to his administration's efforts to prevent it from "infringing" on American sovereignty or promoting what he considers a "leftist agenda."
In addition, Trump expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian war, a conflict that he expected during his 2024 election campaign to be settled on the first day of his second term. He did not hide that he was running out of patience with the Ukrainian forces targeting Russian diesel refineries, in a case that increased the volatility of oil markets due to the “Iranian Guard” attacks against commercial ships and oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the threats of the Houthi group at the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in addition to Russia’s targeting of the Ukrainian energy network.
In a related context, the US President strongly rejected calls for international supervision of artificial intelligence, describing it as a “global project” to control new technology. He announced in his speech that the US government will from now on use the term “superior intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” in the statements it issues, in the hope that the world will follow suit.
Leaving ICC
The US President called on all countries to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, describing it as “out of control.” Trump said in his speech, “The United States opposes the out-of-control institution known as the International Criminal Court,” calling on “all member states of the International Criminal Court to withdraw from this rogue institution immediately.” The United States is waging a fierce campaign against the International Criminal Court, and recently imposed a series of sanctions on its officials, including its president and the current Prosecutor General, against the backdrop of the judicial body in The Hague issuing an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to the war in the Gaza Strip. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle the court, and saw it as a “threat” to American sovereignty. Established in 1998 and beginning its work in 2002, the International Criminal Court is a permanent international criminal judicial body charged with trying people accused of the most serious crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, the crime of aggression, and war crimes.
“Security Council paralysis”
Trump's speech to the United Nations came at a time when his approach to foreign policy, especially his decision to wage war on Iran, is hampering his Republican Party's hopes of maintaining control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterm congressional elections in just 40 days.
In addition to President Trump's speech, world leaders were busy searching for ways to find a way out of what diplomats called "a difficult moment that the world is going through," including because of the war between the United States and Iran, which led to the global economy being shaken, in addition to increasing concern about the repercussions of artificial intelligence, in addition to questions about the future of the United Nations itself in light of President Trump's reduction of American financial support for it.
Trump was preceded to the podium by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who saw the world as a “hostage” to the paralysis of the Security Council, the most powerful tool of all in the United Nations system. He said: “We are all hostages of the Security Council’s failure to fulfill its role.”
In his last speech as Secretary-General before the General Assembly, António Guterres, whose term ends in only 100 days, told hundreds of world leaders gathered under the dome of the international organization that the crises of the past decade are nothing but “chapters of one story, the story of power.” He added: “The cracks in our world are widening, and the fissures are turning into deep valleys,” referring to the wars that “continue with hideous brutality.”
Guterres pointed out that power is shifting in three directions: between countries, from governments to “a handful of private companies and individuals,” and from humans to machines “as artificial intelligence systems get out of control.” He believed that true stability requires the great powers to realize that “their power is not that great.”
Regarding the Middle East, Guterres said that Gaza witnessed “a level of killing and destruction the likes of which I have never witnessed before,” warning that settlement expansion in the West Bank “portrays the danger of ethnic cleansing.” He described Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a "blatant violation of the Charter" of the international organization. He said that Sudan is “being torn apart while the world turns a blind eye.”
Reiterating his warnings regarding climate change, he warned of the “uncontrolled power” of superhuman artificial intelligence, stressing that “killer robots must have no place in our future.”
The President of the current session of the General Assembly, Khalil Rahman, believed that the basic test for the United Nations today is not survival, but performance. “Outside these walls, people ask not whether the United Nations still exists, but whether it works,” he said. He called for reforms on three axes: transparency regarding failures, deeper structural change beyond the 1980 UN initiative, and increased participation of the business sector and civil society.
Arab Peace Initiative
King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein delivered a speech in which he called for attention to the geopolitical situation in the region and in general. “Our attention has become a scarce resource, and choosing what we give our attention to has become more important than ever,” he said.
He devoted a large part of his speech to Gaza and the West Bank, warning that “the temporary has become permanent, and the permanent has become an approach,” explaining that “in the first 300 days of what was called the ceasefire, at least 300 Palestinian children were martyred.” While he praised President Trump's efforts to achieve peace, he accused the Israeli government of continuing to "ignore the agreement."
He described what is happening in the West Bank as a “radical transformation,” warning that “demolishing Palestinian homes to expand illegal settlements is not an implementation of the law, but rather a forced transfer,” amounting to a “war crime.”
The Jordanian king also rejected the “illusions” of resolving the conflict, stressing that what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank are “two sides of the same Israeli strategy,” and that the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative has remained in place “for more than 20 years,” and that “the obstacle has never been the absence of a partner to achieve peace, but rather the lack of an Israeli government prepared to accept it.”
King Abdullah II also warned against the expansion of Israeli ambitions into Syria, stressing that “any threat to our northern borders or water security is a threat to our national security.”
He stressed that “military force does not feed the hungry, does not guarantee the return of the displaced, and does not build peace.”
