United States President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on the United Nations and European nations during his return to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, warning that Western nations were “going to hell” due to migration policies and dismissing climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated.”
Delivering his first address to the UNGA since returning to the White House, Trump accused the UN of failing to support his efforts to broker peace in conflict zones, including Gaza and Ukraine.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump asked in a fiery speech that lasted nearly an hour. “It has such tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that.”
Unlike his first UN speech in 2018—when delegates laughed at some of his remarks—Tuesday’s address was met largely with silence as Trump criticized the UN, its leadership, and US allies.
He even mocked the UN headquarters, joking that all he had ever gotten from the organization was “a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter.”
Migration, Europe Under Fire
Trump’s harshest words targeted migration, a central theme of his two election victories. He accused the UN of “funding an assault” on Western nations, calling it an “invasion,” and urged countries to follow his lead in tightening border controls.
“Your countries are going to hell,” Trump bluntly told European leaders.
He further condemned the UN for what he described as its passivity in global conflicts, saying, “All they seem to do is write a strongly worded letter. Empty words don’t solve wars.”
Trump later escalated his rhetoric on Ukraine, urging NATO members to shoot down Russian aircraft that violate their airspace. His comments came during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the summit—his second meeting with Zelensky since holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August.
Gaza and Climate Change Remarks
On Gaza, Trump criticized European allies including France and the UK for recognizing a Palestinian state, calling it a “reward” for Hamas’ October 2023 attacks on Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron responded, saying Trump could only achieve his ambition of winning a Nobel Peace Prize if he worked to stop the Gaza war.
Trump also renewed his attack on climate change policies, insisting that he had been “right about everything” and pushing for expanded oil drilling and the rollback of environmental regulations.
“Climate change is the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” he declared.
Nationalist Policies and UN Criticism
Since returning to power, Trump has moved quickly to reassert his nationalist agenda—pulling the US out of the World Health Organization and the UN climate accord, slashing foreign aid, and imposing sanctions on international judges whose rulings he claims undermine US sovereignty.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in his own opening address that Washington-led aid cuts were “wreaking havoc” worldwide. After meeting Guterres, Trump hinted at a possible change in UN leadership, telling reporters, “The UN could be unbelievable with the right people running it.”
Trump also met with Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally, and said he saw no need for an international bailout for the struggling South American economy.
Security around the UN headquarters was extremely tight, with heavily armed police deployed. The US Secret Service reported foiling a plot aimed at disrupting telecommunications around the UN, allegedly involving “nation-state threat actors.”
