Trump followed through on what the White House previewed as “tough talk” to the global body, in a speech that lasted nearly an hour, the longest U.N. address of any U.S. president ever.
“Both the immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe if something is not done immediately,” Trump said, making an argument for closed borders and unfettered energy exploitation.
“Time to end the failed experiment of open borders. End it now. I can tell you — I’m really good at this stuff — your countries are going to hell,” he added later.
Trump also hit on many of his favorite domestic themes, touting his deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., tax cuts and global tariffs.
The president attacked the U.N. as an irrelevant body that has failed in its mission to ensure global security and stability, a criticism that diplomats and U.N. officials acknowledge but argue requires renewed commitments and engagement rather than withdrawal.
“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,” Trump added.
The president also touted his role in helping broker ceasefires in several conflicts, claiming the U.N. had not offered assistance with his efforts.
While Trump has ended U.S. participation in some U.N. bodies and cut all foreign aid that helped fund humanitarian initiatives, the president told U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres that the U.S. “is behind the United Nations 100 percent” during a bilateral meeting later in the day.
Trump acknowledged the challenge he’s faced in trying to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip — but blamed other countries for setting back his efforts on both fronts.
Trump said the U.S. was prepared to impose a “very strong round of powerful tariffs” on Russia but said it would be ineffective unless Europe stopped importing oil from Moscow – a trade he claimed he only became aware of two weeks ago.
“Europe has to step it up,” he said, adding later, “They have to cease all energy purchases from Russia. Otherwise, we’re all wasting a lot of time.”
There was one notable moment of levity amid the aggression. Trump was able to trigger some laughter from what was largely a stone-faced audience, calling out a technical difficulty with the teleprompter early on in his speech and a broken escalator.
Read the full report from The Hill's Laura Kelly at TheHill.com.
