United States President Donald J. Trump underscored what he described as historic economic and foreign policy achievements, contrasting his record with that of the Joseph R. Biden Administration.  He said that, during “four years of President Biden, we have less than $1 trillion [invested] into the United States,” while “in just less than eight months under [his] presidency, much more than $17 trillion is being invested into the United States”.  He also declared:  “My Administration has implemented the largest tax cuts and the largest regulation cuts in the history of the country.”

Immigration was a centrepiece of his remarks.  “Our message is very simple:  If you come illegally into the United States, you’re going to jail or you’re going back to where you came from, or perhaps even worse — you know what that means,” he said.  He denounced former President Biden’s policies for failing to protect children:  “Joe Biden’s policies lost nearly 300,000 children who were trafficked into the United States; under the Biden watch, many of whom have been raped, exploited and abused. Nobody talks about it — the mainstream media doesn’t talk about this,” he told the Assembly

Mr. Trump also pointed to his record on trade and conflict resolution.  “In the period of seven months, I ended seven un-endable — they said they were un-endable — wars,” he said.  He criticized the United Nations for offering little help:  “What is the purpose of the United Nations,” he asked the 193-member Assembly.  The UN seems to write very strongly worded letters, but “empty words don’t solve war”, he said.  While some suggested he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Mr. Trump said:  “The real prize will be to save millions of lives.”

On Iran, Mr. Trump said that the “world’s number-one sponsor of terror cannot even be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon”.  He added that “today, many of Iran’s military commanders — in fact I can say almost all of them — are no longer with us”.  What the United States has done, no other country has the ability to do.  He claimed that with Iran’s enrichment capabilities “completely demolished”, his Administration had also brokered an end to the 12-day war.

He urged immediate action in Gaza.  “Release the hostages now — just release the hostages now,” he said. “We have to negotiate peace, get the hostages back — all 20 back — and 38 dead bodies back.”  He warned against unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State, saying it would amount to “a reward to Hamas for its horrible atrocities”.

On Ukraine, Mr. Trump said he “always thought that would be the easiest” war to end because of his relationship with Russian Federation President Vladimir V. Putin.  Instead, he said, the conflict has dragged on for three years, “killing 5,000 to 7,000 young people a week”.  He accused North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries of hypocrisy:  “They are buying oil and gas from Russia when they are fighting Russia,” he said.  His proposed solution was tariffs:  If Russia does not end the war, the United States will impose very strict tariffs which would end the war very quickly, but the Europeans have to adopt them, as well, he said.

The United Nations came under repeated criticism during President Trump’s speech.  Mr. Trump recalled his past bid to rebuild UN Headquarters:  “Many years ago, I bid to rebuild the United Nations for $500 million, but they decided to go into another direction which produced a much more inferior complex.”  Instead, he said, “they spent between $2 billion and $4 billion, and did not even get the marble floors I promised them”.  On migration, he said that, in 2024, the United Nations spent “$372 million in cash to support 624,000 migrants to journey into the United States to infiltrate our southern border”.  He also added:  “The UN is supposed to stop invasions, not promote them.”

Mr. Trump also attacked climate policy and renewable energy. “Windmills are pathetic,” he said, calling the carbon footprint “a hoax”.  He argued:  “If you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail.”  Citing Germany’s struggles, he warned that “energy and open immigration is destroying Europe”.  He pointed to China’s emissions:  “China now produces more CO₂ than all the other developed nations in the world,” he said.

Closing on a call for national sovereignty, Mr. Trump said:  “America belongs to the American people, and I encourage all countries to take a stance in the defence of their own people.