President Trump told the United Nations on Tuesday he’s confronting global challenges while others dither, taking on the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran and flexing American muscle to secure the Western Hemisphere from Greenland to South America.
Mr. Trump, addressing the General Assembly, said great leaders must use the little time they have to shape the world, so he refuses to let problems fester.
“While others have talked, I have acted. While others have spoken of peace, I have made it. While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them,” Mr. Trump said. “While others have talked of courage, America has shown it. While others have promised strength, I have used it to make America the most powerful country in the world.”
Mr. Trump leaned in on Iran, calling it the “No. 1 sponsor of terror” whose “mad dash” toward a nuclear weapon left him no choice but to launch airstrikes on Feb. 28.
Tehran retaliated by hindering oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and striking America’s allies in the Gulf region, sparking nearly seven months of military bombing, ceasefires and attempts at diplomacy.
Mr. Trump said he acted appropriately in challenging an Islamic regime that cheered the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, pushing back on those who say he launched a costly war of choice that disrupted markets.
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“Just imagine if such a vile regime were ever empowered to carry out large-scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield,” he said. “This was the reality we had to confront — a reality that far too many preferred to ignore.”
Mr. Trump said Tehran is waiting to see how his party does in the November elections. His message: Don’t bother.
“It doesn’t even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
The U.N. General Assembly is an annual gathering in New York that brings together all 193 members of the peace-and-security organization.
Leaders address the large hall, debate hot issues, make budget decisions and pass nonbinding resolutions.
Mr. Trump is skeptical of global alliances such as the U.N. He says they’re often ineffective and seek outsized funding from the U.S. while delivering little in return.
SEE ALSO: CNN lone network to boycott Trump U.N. speech following ouster from White House
Last year, Mr. Trump used his speech to criticize other Western nations for allowing unchecked migration and to promote his America First agenda in place of “destructive globalism.” Also in 2025, the president’s teleprompter malfunctioned, and the U.N. escalator stopped working just as Mr. Trump and first lady Melania Trump stepped onto it.
Mr. Trump formed a Board of Peace to resolve global conflicts and serve as an alternative to the U.N. Over two dozen countries agreed to join.
Despite his recurring criticism of the U.N., Mr. Trump thanked the body’s Security Council on Tuesday for voting overwhelmingly to pass a resolution condemning Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. He also thanked the U.N. for supporting his plan to rebuild Gaza after Israeli strikes on Hamas terror leaders.
Mr. Trump told gathered leaders that his do-it-now approach extends to America’s backyard, pointing to his raid to capture Venezuelan “outlaw dictator” Nicolas Maduro and extradite him to the U.S. on drug charges.
“The United States will no longer permit threats to America to gain a foothold anywhere in the Western Hemisphere,” he said. “And if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States.”
He also defended his lethal strikes on cartel drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, dubbing traffickers the “ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.”
“They are enemies at war with civilization — using murder, rape, torture and extortion as instruments of terror,” he said.
Mr. Trump said Cuba is a “failed state” that “will fall,” though he promised to allow space for negotiations with the communist regime. And he hailed an agreement with Denmark to let the U.S. control security on Greenland, a pivotal piece of land in the Arctic region that’s coveted by the U.S., China and Russia.
He said the U.S. plans to build two major military bases on the massive island.
Mr. Trump defended U.S. sovereignty, saying it will not accept “global taxes” over carbon emissions and won’t allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute and judge Americans.
“Freedom was not a gift that Americans won easily,” he said, “and after 250 years, it is not one we will ever surrender.”
The president addressed the U.N. while his Republican Party, which controls the House and Senate, tries to stave off a Democratic wave in November’s midterm elections.
At times, Mr. Trump’s address resembled a campaign speech. He boasted about GOP tax cuts and a string of foreign investments in American factories, along with his effort to seal the southern border.
Voters, however, remain worried about the cost of living and high energy prices from the Iran war.
The average U.S. price of gas was $4.47 per gallon on Tuesday, up from $3.18 at this time last year, according to the AAA motor club.
Mr. Trump says costs will nosedive once the war ends, possibly after the midterms, but it is unclear how the conflict will wind down.
The president is also pressing to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Recent strikes on Russian refineries, combined with the Iran conflict, are driving diesel prices to record highs.
“We will get that one done,” Mr. Trump said of the Ukraine war. “It’s going to happen more quickly than people understand. They’ve had it.”
Mr. Trump visited the U.N. ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the White House from Wednesday to Friday.
The U.S. and China are the world’s foremost economic superpowers, and Mr. Trump is looking to defeat Beijing in the race to develop artificial intelligence.
At the same time, U.S. voters are leery of AI’s potential impact on jobs and society, and the massive data centers needed to power the industry.
Mr. Trump said the U.S. has to “be careful” and use the Justice Department to monitor the technology, but he would not “stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution.”
“We will only encourage super intelligence,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in.”
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