--- title: New Zealand PM on Laughter During Trump's U.N. Speech description: President Donald Trump claims the U.N. audience was laughing with him. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern offers her take. canonical: https://time.com/5408148/new-zealand-pm-laughter-trump-un-speech/ author: Precious Adesina article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-27T15:27:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:09.781Z article:section: Politics og:title: Laughing With Him or at Him? New Zealand's Leader Tactfully Addresses President Trump's Viral U.N. Moment og:description: Trump says they were laughing with him. Jacinda Ardern offers her take og:url: https://time.com/5408148/new-zealand-pm-laughter-trump-un-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Laughing With Him or at Him? New Zealand's Leader Tactfully Addresses President Trump's Viral U.N. Moment twitter:description: Trump says they were laughing with him. Jacinda Ardern offers her take twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Laughing With Him or at Him? New Zealand's Leader Tactfully Addresses President Trump's Viral U.N. Moment > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: President Donald Trump Addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York City [Watch (HLS stream): President Donald Trump Addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York City](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JJSP69E2.m3u8) (2:51)  _Published 2018-09-25. President Donald Trump Addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York City_ by [Precious Adesina](https://time.com/author/precious-adesina/) ## Precious Adesina Sep 27, 2018 3:27 PM UTC by [Precious Adesina](https://time.com/author/precious-adesina/) ## Precious Adesina Sep 27, 2018 3:27 PM UTC [New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern](http://time.com/5405405/new-zealand-jacinda-ardern-baby-u-n/) was in the room Tuesday when President Donald Trump delivered a speech to the [U.N. General Assembly](http://time.com/5405800/donald-trump-united-nations-speech-laughter/) that prompted unexpected giggles from the audience — but don’t expect her to fully reveal the reason for the laughs. Stephen Colbert attempted to get her to weigh in on the viral moment while she appeared on _The Late Show_ Wednesday evening, but Ardern demurred, playfully asking Colbert if he was trying to create a “diplomatic incident.” She later addressed his question — but only a little. “There was a little laughter and then he said, ‘I didn’t expect that response’ and then there was a bigger laugh,” Ardern said. “Then people laughed with him.” The reaction from the U.N. audience came after the president insisted that “in less than two years, my administration has accomplished almost more than any other administration in the history of our country.” After his speech, Trump claimed that the wave of laughter after his comments was intentional. While discussing the viral moment between events at the annual meeting of world leaders in New York this week, the president explained the speech was supposed to be received in a cheerful manner and was taken out of context, calling the media’s coverage “fake news.” Trump later told reporters during a press conference Wednesday afternoon that attendees “weren’t laughing at me, they were laughing with me.” ## Transcript One year ago I stood before you for the first time in this grand hall. I addressed the threats facing our world and I presented a vision to achieve a brighter future for all of humanity. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Today I stand before the United Nations General Assembly to share the extraordinary progress we've made. In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration. In the history of our country, America is, so true. [ LAUGH ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Didn't expect that reaction. But that's okay. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] The United States lost over 3 million manufacturing job, nearly a quarter of all steel jobs and 60, 000 factories after China joined the WTO [ BLANK_AUDIO ] And we have racked up $ 13 trillion deficit over the last two decades, but those days are over. We will no longer tolerate such abuse. We will not allow our workers to be victimized Our companies to be cheated, and our wealth to be plundered and transfered. America will never apologize for protecting its citizens. The United States will provide no support in recognition to the international criminal court. As far as America is concerned, the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority. The ICC claims near universal jurisdiction over the citizens of every country, violating all principles of justice, fairness, and due process We will never surrender America's soverignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy. America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine Of patriotism. OPEC and OPEC nations are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world, [ BLANK_AUDIO ] and I don't like it. Nobody should like it. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5408148/new-zealand-pm-laughter-trump-un-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5408148/new-zealand-pm-laughter-trump-un-speech/"},"headline":"Laughing With Him or at Him? New Zealand's Leader Tactfully Addresses President Trump's Viral U.N. Moment","datePublished":"2018-09-27T15:27:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:09.781Z","description":"Trump says they were laughing with him. 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