Topline
President Donald Trump is expected to challenge the role of the United Nations as he addresses its General Assembly on Tuesday, after repeatedly criticizing the organization, leaving several affiliated agencies and revoking funding for the global body.
President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on Septemeber 22, 2025. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Trump will speak about “how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, and he will articulate his straightforward and constructive vision for the world” in the speech at the General Assembly meeting in New York, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
Trump’s speech comes after the U.S. revoked about $1 billion in funding this year to the U.N., which Trump has accused previously of “not being well run,” and withdrew from several U.N. agencies, including the World Health Organization, UNESCO and Human Rights Council.
Trump will also touch on his own personal disputes with the U.N., according to Secretary of State Marco, who told Fox News Tuesday Trump would “point to his own history with the U.N. going back to his time as a developer,” adding that Trump “offered to fix the U.N. building and instead they decided to go in a different direct, wasted a bunch of money.”
Rubio appeared to be referring to the U.N. rejecting Trump’s offer to renovate its headquarters in the early 2000s.
Trump will meet with several world leaders after the summit, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Argentinian President Javier Milei.
Crucial Quote
“I’ve always felt that the UN has tremendous potential,” Trump said when he withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council earlier this year. “It’s not living up to that potential right now.”
Key Background
Trump addresses the U.N. as he is campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize but has failed to negotiate ends to both the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars, a key promise he hoped would bring him closer to earning the prestigious award. Trump’s comments surrounding several U.S. allies’ recognition of a Palestinian state on Monday will also be closely watched, though Leavitt said Monday Trump “disagrees” with the decision and “feels this does not do anything to release the hostages, which is the primary goal right now in Gaza.
Further Reading
Secret Service Dismantles ‘Telecommunications Threat’ Near UN General Assembly (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/09/23/trump-expected-to-criticize-un-in-first-general-assembly-speech-since-2019/
