Trump chases headlines, not outcomes, as he addresses the UN.
The United Nations is supposed to be the room where leaders slow down, choose their words, and build consensus. Donald Trump did the opposite. He spoke for almost an hour, insisted the teleprompter was broken even as the UN said it was working, and delivered a greatest-hits monologue that bounced from migration panic to climate conspiracy to lies about ending wars. The performance revealed more about his politics than his policy.
A performance of grievance, not a plan
Trump’s tone was combative from the first minute. He mocked the institution hosting him, claimed credit for 'ending seven wars', and told world leaders that their countries were “going to hell”. The structure was scattershot. He touched Ukraine, Gaza and trade only to pivot back to two hobby horses: immigration and clean energy. The headline he wanted was controversy. The thread he offered was himself.
The president’s central move was to export his culture war. Europe, he claimed, is being 'invaded' by 'illegal aliens'. The UN, he said, is bankrolling this. He singled out Sadiq Khan with a false riff about 'Sharia law' in London. None of this offered a route to manage displacement, fund humane processing, or punish the gangs who profit. It was about blame. The point was to make leaders flinch and to give Europe’s far right a clip to share.
It also sidestepped reality. Europe’s asylum numbers are off their 2015 peak, most arrivals are not criminals, and frontline work is done by underfunded local agencies and NGOs, not a secret UN cash machine. Serious governments are expanding legal routes, speeding up decisions, returning those with no case, and prosecuting smuggling networks through cross-border police work. That is the grown-up agenda. Trump offered a meme, not a policy.
Climate denial on a global stage
There were audible gasps in the hall when Trump called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated”. At a forum built on science and international commitments, he told countries to abandon the green transition and double down on fossil fuels, even pitching “tremendous oil” in the North Sea to the UK. The world is investing record sums in low-carbon energy. Trump’s message was to reverse course and call it victory.
Ukraine and Gaza reduced to asides
On Ukraine he scolded Europe for buying Russian energy and dangled tariffs as leverage, while offering little of his own beyond tough talk. On Gaza he focused on hostages and attacked recognition of a Palestinian state, yet ducked the humanitarian catastrophe. In both cases the posture was transactional. The work of diplomacy, the coalition-building that makes sanctions bite and ceasefires hold, barely featured.
The UN as punchbag
The United Nations is not above criticism. It is slow, often paralysed by vetoes, and guilty of empty rhetoric. Trump’s attack went further. He mocked the building, belittled the process, and cast the UN as an enemy. It was theatre for a domestic audience that loves the idea of a lone strongman cutting through talk. It was also a signal to authoritarians that multilateral rules are optional.
Why this matters beyond New York
First, it normalises climate denial and migrant scapegoating at the heart of global politics. That will embolden hardliners across Europe who are already pushing to rip up protections and criminalise aid. Second, it undermines the institutions that hold the line when great-power politics turns ugly. If the United States treats the UN as a punchline, others will treat it as a target. Third, it leaves serious problems untouched. Tariffs are not a Ukraine strategy. Slogans are not a Gaza plan. Insults are not migration policy.
When Trump tells London to ditch green policy and drill, he is not offering partnership. He is asking Britain to join a culture war that would raise energy bills in the long run, strand investment, and poison the climate debate for another decade. When he smears Sadiq Khan he is not arguing policy. He is baiting a fight. The correct response is to defend facts, defend institutions, and keep doing the hard, boring work of governing.
The takeaways
Borders can be enforced without cruelty. Climate action can be accelerated without collapsing living standards. Peace can be pursued without self-mythology. The UN is frustrating because democracy is frustrating. That is the point. Trump gave the world a rally speech. The rest of us still need a plan for change.
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