US President Donald Trump addressed the 81st United Nations General Assembly, laying out a vision of a militaristic US unbound by international rules. He insisted that the US will not join global regulation of AI and urged countries to abandon the International Criminal Court. Trump boasted about US control over Venezuelan oil, saying "to the victor belong the spoils." His speech contrasted starkly with pleas for cooperation and restraint from other world leaders.
Trump's most jarring statement was on the nearly seven-month war in Iran, where he said he had a "big decision" on whether to make a deal or "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly." This statement came after the UN's outgoing leader, Antonio Guterres, raised the alarm on AI and warned against "killer robots" in the future. Several leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, used their speeches to warn that the future of the Palestinians was at a crossroads as Israel expands West Bank settlements.
In a sharp contrast to Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron called for countries to recommit to international law and the UN system. Macron said that the question was whether countries want to live in a "state of nature, with a kind of return to the law of the jungle, or in a civilized international society." The US and Denmark also signed a security deal, which will bar non-NATO and non-EU countries from "strategic sectors" and allow the US to build two military bases in Greenland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv and Washington want the war with Russia to end before winter. Zelensky added that Ukraine would be ready to halt strikes on Russian energy sites if Moscow agrees to do likewise. The UN Security Council will discuss the war on Wednesday. Efforts led by Washington to broker a deal to end the hostilities have stalled in recent months.
Outgoing UN chief Guterres warned of the "specter of ethnic cleansing" in Israel's settlements expansion in the occupied West Bank. He said that violence, displacement, and settlement expansion by Israel are "bulldozing the path to peace." Turkish President Erdogan called for immediate reconstruction of Gaza, while Macron said the devastation there was a "spectacle that shames us all."
Guterres also called for US-Chinese dialogue on the future of AI, akin to US-Soviet engagement during the Cold War. However, Trump rejected international regulation of AI, calling it a "globalist scheme." On climate change, Guterres singled out global energy companies for treating the atmosphere "as an open sewer." Brazilian President Lula Inacio Lula da Silva said that his country did not fit in anyone's "backyard," a reference to Trump's claims to dominate the Americas.
Cuban Foreign Minister reacted furiously to "falsehoods" spread by Trump, who told the UN that the island "will fall." Cuban delegates left the room during Trump's speech at a moment of exceptionally strained Washington-Havana relations. The speech highlighted the divisions between the US and other countries on issues such as AI regulation, climate change, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Key points
- Trump threatens to annihilate Iran in a fiery speech at the UN General Assembly.
- US and Denmark sign a security deal to bar non-NATO and non-EU countries from strategic sectors in Greenland.
- Outgoing UN chief Guterres warns of the "specter of ethnic cleansing" in Israel's settlements expansion in the occupied West Bank.
