Trump critiqued mass migration and climate-related agendas in his UN assembly address, and later revealed a shift in stance on the Russia–Ukraine war.
President Donald Trump, in a Sept. 23 address to the United Nations General Assembly, denounced mass migration and climate-related agendas, which he described as globalist policies that are “destroying a large part of the free world.”
In a nearly hourlong speech, Trump said illegal immigration, particularly in Europe, was tearing apart the social fabric and endangering national security.
Meanwhile, he said policies aimed at curbing so-called climate change effectively enrich countries such as China at the expense of developed nations.
The president also accused the U.N. of not living up to its potential for peace-making.
Trump also participated in several bilateral meetings following the address, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
After that meeting, Trump announced a major shift in his stance on the Russia–Ukraine war.
Here are seven key takeaways from Trump’s speech and bilateral meetings.
1. UN Did Not Contribute to Peace Deals
Toward the beginning of his speech, Trump credited himself with bringing an end to seven conflicts so far this year, and with little to no help from the international organization.
In particular, he said his administration was instrumental in brokering deals to end armed conflicts between Cambodia and Thailand; Kosovo and Serbia; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Pakistan and India; Israel and Iran; Egypt and Ethiopia; and Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal,” he said.
Trump went on to say that the U.N. was failing to live up to its potential as a global peacemaker.
“At least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up,” he said. “It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.”
2. Illegal Immigration ‘Destroying’ Countries
The president warned foreign leaders that failing to curtail illegal immigration endangers countries’ social and economic security.
“Both the immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe if something is not done immediately,” Trump said. “This cannot be sustained.”
He said a country’s cultural heritage is threatened by open border policies that allow different religions and traditions to flood in unchecked.
“What makes the world so beautiful is that each country is unique,” Trump said. “But to stay this way, every sovereign nation must have the right to control their own borders.”
Recent instances of mass migration are overwhelming some countries, and false asylum claims are problematic, he said.
“While we will always have a big heart for places and people that are struggling and truly compassionate … they have to solve the problem, and they have to solve it in their countries, not create new problems in our countries,” Trump said.
He cited European Council statistics that showed at least half of all inmates in Austria, Germany, Greece, and Switzerland in 2024 were immigrants or foreign nationals.
“When your prisons are filled with so-called asylum seekers who repay kindness … with crime, it’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders,” Trump said. “You have to end it now.”
The president also called out the U.N. for “funding an assault on Western countries” by offering cash support, food, shelter, and other assistance to migrants, including those traveling to the United States.
3. Trump Targets Globalist Climate Policies
Trump also took aim at what he described as globalist climate policy requiring successful, developed nations to harm themselves.
At one point, Trump said Europe had collectively reduced its carbon footprint by around 37 percent, but said Europe’s efforts were negated by a 54 percent increase in the global carbon footprint, driven heavily by China.
“Congratulations, Europe, great job. Cost yourself a lot of jobs, a lot of factories closed, but you reduced the carbon footprint by 37 percent. However, for all of that sacrifice and much more, it’s been totally wiped out, and then some,” he said.
Trump remarked that energy bills in Europe are four to five times what they are in China.
At another point, Trump compared heat-related deaths in the United States, where air-conditioning systems are prevalent, versus in Europe where such systems are less prevalent. While the United States has around 1,300 such deaths annually, Europe suffers around 175,000 a year.
“The entire globalist concept of asking successful industrialized nations to inflict pain on themselves and radically disrupt their entire societies must be rejected completely and totally, and it must be immediate,” he said.
4. New Optimism About Ukraine Retaking Territory
After his U.N. address, Trump met with Zelenskyy to discuss the war in Ukraine. Following the talks, Trump signaled new support for Ukraine’s goals to retake all land it has lost to Russia since 2014.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.
Trump’s comments mark a shift in his position toward the Ukraine conflict. The U.S. president has previously raised the prospect of Ukraine ceding territory to quickly reach a peace deal with Russia.
In February, just weeks into Trump’s term, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had said the new U.S. policy toward Europe and the Ukraine conflict would take into account the realities of the battlefield.
“Simply pointing out realism, like the borders won’t be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014, is not a concession to Vladimir Putin. It’s a recognition of hard power realities on the ground,” Hegseth said at the time.
On Tuesday, Trump struck a more optimistic tone about Ukraine’s odds of retaking territory.
“Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three-and-a-half years, a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win,” Trump’s social media post reads.
“This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.’”
5. Calls For NATO to Shoot Down Aerial Incursions
During his bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump faced a direct question about whether members of NATO should shoot down Russian aircraft that enter their airspace.
“Yes, I do,” Trump replied.
His comments were made after NATO member Poland reported shooting down multiple suspected Russian drones on Sept. 10, during a Russian aerial bombardment on neighboring western Ukraine.
The Polish government reported that Dutch F-35 fighter jets assisted Poland’s air defense operations.
After Trump voiced support for NATO members shooting down new Russian aerial incursions, he faced another question about the degree to which the United States would help its NATO allies in such confrontations.
“Depends on the circumstance,” Trump answered. “But you know, we’re very strong toward NATO.”
6. European Allies Pressed to Drop Russian Energy
In his U.N. address, Trump expressed frustration that Russia can continue to keep its war-making industry running with energy exports.
Trump said China and India remain the primary funders of the Russian war effort, through their continued purchases of Russian fossil fuels.
However, he said, even North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, who have worked collectively to arm and support Ukraine through the conflict, also continue to purchase Russian energy.
“Inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products,” he said.
An August report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air found that the European Union was the fourth largest purchaser of Russian crude oil exports since the end of 2022.
In that same time period, the report found that the EU was the top purchaser of Russian liquefied natural gas.
Trump said he’s prepared to step up economic pressure on Russia to push Moscow to the negotiating table, but Europe’s continued purchases of Russian energy could undermine that.
“They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia. Otherwise, we’re all wasting a lot of time,” he said.
“So I’m ready to discuss this. We’re going to discuss it today with the European nations all gathered here.”
7. Ending Biological, Nuclear Weapon Development
Trump also implored world leaders to prioritize diplomacy and cease the development of biological and nuclear weapons.
“I look at weapons that are so powerful that we just can’t ever use them,” Trump said during his address. “If we ever use them, the world literally might come to an end.”
He pressed for a path to peace, suggesting the future of the organization and humanity are potentially at stake.
“There would be no United Nations to be talking about,” Trump said. “There would be no nothing.”
The president also alluded to the COVID-19 virus and the origins of the contagion as a precautionary tale, but did not specifically mention China.
“Just a few years ago, reckless experiments overseas gave us a devastating global pandemic,” Trump said.
“Yet despite that worldwide catastrophe, many countries are continuing extremely risky research into bio weapons and man-made pathogens.”
The president announced that his administration will work with other countries to develop a new AI verification system to enforce the Biological Weapons Convention, a treaty that bars nations from developing such weapons.
Jack Phillips and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
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