Last Tuesday, President Trump visited his hometown of New York City to deliver a speech to the UN General Assembly. This was expected to be a tumultuous event as the president had often questioned the importance of the United Nations in the past. Many who listened to the speech thought President Trump used it as a platform to further push anti-globalism sentiment and bold claims. Being 57 minutes, longer than the normal 15, Trump’s speech was bound to leave a mark and rattle diplomatic relations. 

The president already didn’t fully support the UN, but when his Teleprompter cut out, people were able to see the full extent of his disapproval. He made comments suggesting that the United Nations had intentionally tried to sabotage him and suggested that the organization is incompetent and haphazard. Trump also started with self-praise quite early by claiming that he ended seven wars that were previously claimed to be not endable. He also cited that he ended these wars by himself and without the help of the UN, which further pushes the anti-UN agenda. He dug further after the claim, even questioning the purpose of the UN and claiming that they rely on empty words to end a war as opposed to action. Adding on to his claims of ending wars, he mentioned how he urged for a ceasefire in Gaza and that countries recognizing a Palestinian state are giving Hamas a great reward. On the topic of foreign wars, President Trump also mentioned that the European nations need to adopt measures to hinder Russia’s economy and to stop buying Russian oil and gas. He echoed earlier statements about the U.S. having an ocean between them and that Europe is not pushing hard enough to end a war on its own continent. 

In other parts of the speech, Trump strongly emphasized his staunch anti-globalist approach in comments criticizing Nations for trusting in IGOs to alleviate their issues and denigrated climate change initiatives, labeling them as “con jobs”. He went a step further when he reprimanded the European governments for putting in place ‘invasive immigration policies’. In making these comments, President Trump risks ostracizing the U.S. from its international allies, especially those in Europe. 

Overall, President Trump’s speech at the UN last Tuesday showed the world that the U.S. is ready to become less involved in foreign affairs and that the President will make bold statements, even if it rattles diplomatic relations throughout the UN.