Donald Trump used his first address to the United Nations General Assembly of his second term to launch a series of attacks on multiple targets, including the organisation itself, NATO allies, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whilst claiming he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic efforts.
Speaking to world leaders at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, the US President delivered what the White House had billed as a speech touting the “renewal of American strength,” but which quickly descended into a series of controversial claims and personal attacks.
In a particularly inflammatory moment, Trump reignited his long-running feud with Khan, calling him a “terrible, terrible mayor” and claiming London had been “so changed” under his leadership. “Now they want to go to Sharia Law, but you’re in a different country. You can’t do that,” Trump declared, without providing any evidence for his claim about Islamic law being administered in the British capital.
The President went on to claim that “both the immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe, if something is not done immediately.
There is no evidence that Sharia Law is being implemented as policy in London, and Trump’s comments appeared to conflate the presence of Muslim communities with the implementation of Islamic religious law.
The attack on Khan comes just days after Trump criticised him during his UK state visit, calling him “among the worst mayors in the world” and claiming he had ensured the London mayor was not invited to the state banquet at Windsor Castle. Sources close to Khan said at the time that he neither sought nor expected an invitation.
Khan had previously criticised Trump in a Guardian opinion piece, accusing the President and “his coterie” of doing “the most to fan the flames of divisive, far-right politics around the world in recent years.
Trump’s speech came as NATO dealt with escalating tensions over Russian airspace violations. The alliance had issued a stern warning to Moscow just hours before Trump took the podium, following what it called an “increasingly irresponsible” string of violations of member states’ airspace.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte briefed the North Atlantic Council on Monday about three armed Russian MiG-31 aircraft that violated Estonian airspace for over ten minutes last week. The alliance’s statement declared: “Russia bears full responsibility for these actions, which are escalatory, risk miscalculation and endanger lives. They must stop.”
The violations have affected multiple NATO members, including Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Romania and Poland. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Monday: “We will make a decision to shoot down flying objects without discussion when they violate our territory and fly over Poland.
Despite these provocations from Russia, Trump suggested during his speech that he could sanction Moscow if European nations changed their approach, though he provided few specifics about what changes he expected or what sanctions might entail.
The President also took aim at the United Nations itself, continuing his long-standing criticism of the international body. I’ve always felt that the UN has tremendous potential,” Trump had said earlier this year whilst withdrawing the United States from the UN Human Rights Council. “It’s not living up to that potential right now.”
His administration has already withdrawn from multiple UN agencies, including UNESCO, which the White House claimed “supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes,” and the World Health Organization, citing its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In perhaps his most audacious claim, Trump suggested he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic efforts. The President has been touting what he describes as his role in ending “six or seven wars,” though foreign policy analysts have questioned both the number and the extent of his involvement.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated last month that Trump has “brokered, on average, about one peace deal or ceasefire per month during his six months in office. It’s well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Trump has received nominations from Pakistan, Cambodia, Israel and several Republican lawmakers for his claimed mediation efforts in various conflicts. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have suggested a joint nomination following US-brokered peace talks, though no formal peace agreement has been signed between the two nations.
However, at least three of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee have publicly criticised Trump, making his path to the prize far from clear. The winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 10.
The President’s speech also addressed the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, both of which he had previously promised to resolve quickly. “It’s not making Russia look good. It’s making them look bad,” he said of the Ukraine war, whilst stating that Hamas has “repeatedly rejected reasonable efforts to make peace.
Trump criticised nations including the UK, France and Canada for recognising Palestinian statehood, with the White House calling such recognition “just more talk and not enough action.
The speech marked a stark contrast to Trump’s previous UN appearances. Whilst his first-term addresses were often criticised as dry affairs read from a teleprompter, this speech – delivered partly without a functioning teleprompter after technical difficulties – was more freewheeling and controversial.
“I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter is not working,” Trump said to nervous laughter. “That way you speak more from the heart.”
The President’s combative tone and personal attacks at what is traditionally a forum for diplomatic engagement drew immediate criticism from European diplomats. One EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the speech as “unprecedented in its lack of diplomatic decorum.
As Trump continues his meetings with world leaders on the margins of the General Assembly, including a scheduled encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his provocative speech has set a confrontational tone for what many had hoped would be a week of constructive diplomacy.
The irony was not lost on observers that whilst Trump was attacking various international partners and claiming credit for peace initiatives, Russia was actively violating NATO airspace and testing the alliance’s resolve – a challenge that will require genuine diplomatic skill and international cooperation to address.
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