US President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on the United Nations and European allies on Tuesday, warning that Western nations were “going to hell” due to migration and dismissing climate change as a “con job.”
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump delivered a nearly hour-long speech criticising the world body for failing to support his efforts to broker peace in conflicts including Gaza and Ukraine.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” he asked. “It has such tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that.”
Unlike in 2018, when delegates laughed during his address, this time his sharp rebukes were met largely with silence.
Trump attacked European states for recognising a Palestinian state, which he described as a “reward” for Hamas, and accused them of undermining sanctions by purchasing Russian oil. He condemned the UN for what he called “funding an assault” on the West through migration, telling European leaders: “Your countries are going to hell.”
On climate change, Trump repeated his long-standing rejection of international action, calling it “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”
He also defended his domestic crime policies, boasting of deploying troops to Washington and ordering deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats. “To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” he declared.
Trump’s second term has been marked by nationalist policies, including US withdrawal from the World Health Organization and the UN climate pact, sharp cuts to development aid, and sanctions on foreign judges.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that US-led aid reductions were “wreaking havoc” worldwide. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cautioned against “anti-democratic forces” during his own address but confirmed he shared a brief hug with Trump and agreed to meet him next week.
Trump is also scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following his controversial Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August.
Earlier, the US Secret Service said it had foiled a plot by “nation-state threat actors” to disrupt telecommunications during the UN summit.