--- title: How Trump's Latest U.N. Speech Compares to His First One description: Trump's fifth speech to the United Nations General Assembly was darker than his first in 2017, when he defended democracy and Ukraine canonical: https://time.com/7319639/trump-un-speech-takeaways/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-09-23T17:23:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T08:11:23.208Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's Latest U.N. Speech Was Wildly Different From First One og:description: Trump's fifth speech to the United Nations General Assembly was much darker than his first in 2017, when he defended democracy and Ukraine og:url: https://time.com/7319639/trump-un-speech-takeaways/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58d35192fb0c52fb/6998c9ef9fbc7cad1cd9a6e5/GettyImages-2236926628.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: World Leaders Gather For The 80th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Latest U.N. Speech Was Wildly Different From First One twitter:description: Trump's fifth speech to the United Nations General Assembly was much darker than his first in 2017, when he defended democracy and Ukraine twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58d35192fb0c52fb/6998c9ef9fbc7cad1cd9a6e5/GettyImages-2236926628.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump's Latest Speech to the U.N. General Assembly Sounded Very Different From His First > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=997715a6-72a7-48af-8e1a-211685c26301&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Argues Recognition of Palestinian Statehood Encourages ‘Continued Conflict’ During U.N. General Assembly Speech [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Argues Recognition of Palestinian Statehood Encourages ‘Continued Conflict’ During U.N. General Assembly Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yeitXml6.m3u8) (5:40)  _Published 2025-09-23. President Donald Trump took aim at the decision from several countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, arguing that it serves as a "reward" to Hamas during his address at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, September 23, 2025._  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Sep 23, 2025 5:23 PM UTC President Donald Trump took aim at the decision from several countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, arguing that it serves as a "reward" to Hamas during his address at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Sep 23, 2025 5:23 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ When President Donald Trump first climbed to the iconic diplomatic bully pulpit that is the [United Nations’ General Assembly](https://time.com/7319694/trump-un-speech-immigration/) Hall in 2017, he was still a relatively new President and a surprise one at that. His nerves appeared to show as he began addressing a room of fellow world leaders. Much of that speech was littered with the same diplomatic dogma of Trump’s predecessors: a passing defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty, praise for global health initiatives like PEPFAR, and an eloquent defense of democracy. “Authority and authoritarian powers seek to collapse the values, the systems, and alliances that prevented conflict and tilted the world toward freedom since World War II,” Trump said eight years ago. On Tuesday, Trump delivered his [fifth speech to UNGA](https://time.com/7319614/president-trump-united-nations-general-assembly-speech/). The tone of humility and the invitations for collaboration were long gone. In its place were Trump’s dark worldview about the U.N. itself, and questionable boasts about his domestic [poll numbers](https://time.com/7319433/trump-poll-republicans-charlie-kirk/). In 2017, Trump nudged the United Nations to undergo reforms to focus on outcomes and not processes. “The American people hope that one day soon the United Nations can be a much more accountable and effective advocate for human dignity and freedom around the world,” Trump said then. Now? Trump was downright dismissive of the organization hosting him: “What is the purpose of the United Nations?” With only passing mentions of the conflicts in Ukraine and [Gaza](https://time.com/7319614/president-trump-united-nations-general-assembly-speech/), Trump seemed pleased to treat the morning like a campaign rally with one of his most powerful audiences to date. Belligerent is not too strong a word to use to describe Trump’s tone Tuesday morning toward a room filled almost entirely with longstanding U.S. allies. “I’m really good at this stuff,” Trump assured them. “Your countries are going to hell.” Over the course of 56 meandering minutes, Trump nursed grievances large and small, with complaints that he had to walk up to the hall because the escalator was broken and barbs for Joe Biden aplenty. (By contrast, Trump did not utter Barack Obama’s name during his four previous addresses to the U.N. Assembly.) The remarks, his longest ever to the global confab and going well beyond his allocated time, stood as a sharp reminder that Trump sees his turn on these stages as a chance for self-promotion. He cast the United Nations as a passive observer of global affairs that would be lost without him, as he continued his shameless campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize for ending, by his count, [seven wars](https://apnews.com/article/trump-peace-wars-claim-fact-check-10128b26232e1d1eb9e68c5617320cf3). “Sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try to help in any of them,” Trump bemoaned. “All I got from the United Nations was an escalator on the way up that stopped right in the middle.” During his first term, Trump largely stuck to the script, making statements that the Trump of today would likely disavow. “We have invested in better health and opportunity all over the world through programs like PEPFAR, which funds AIDS relief,” Trump touted in 2017, citing the heralded George W. Bush-era program that has, in Trump’s second term, seen its funding and effectiveness [decimated](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/13/africa/hiv-aids-program-cuts-trump-pepfar-intl). For comparison, on Tuesday he spent time bragging about a military take-over of the streets of the U.S. capital, denigrating renewable energy, and mocking climate science. At times it seemed like Trump traded the word-masters of the national security establishment for a Bingo card of right-wing trolling. It was abundantly clear from Trump’s performance that he was playing to a domestic audience and not a global one, and it’s a shrinking one at that. “I’m really good at predicting things,” Trump said, making a pitch for a phrase his campaign put on hats and other swag last year. “I’ve been right about everything.” Trump drew some moments of laughter, including when he said he was physically fit enough to surmount that broken escalator and when he said he only does business with people he likes. It was similar to the mocking chuckle he drew in 2018 when he claimed he “accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” But Trump was clear that he is not laughing with them on moments of substance. At one point, he gleefully boasted about the [bombing](https://time.com/7317506/us-venezuela-war-powers-international-law-trump-maduro-drugs-cartel-boat-strike/) of two boats in open waters that his administration says were carrying drugs—actions that critics from both parties have said were illegal. “We will blow you out of existence,” he said. It was a discomfiting preview of the next three years on the world stage. An emboldened Trump just made clear he has no intention of reviving diplomatic norms, giving American friends and foes alike more reason to fret. This was not the Trump who showed up in 2017 with an instinct to tread carefully. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ## Transcript What is the purpose of the United Nations? The UN has such tremendous potential. I've always said it. It has such tremendous, tremendous potential. But it's not even coming close to living up to that potential. For the most part, at least for now. All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. My administration has negotiated one historic trade deal after another, including with the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and many, many others. Likewise, in a period of just seven months, I have ended seven unending wars. They said they were unmendable. You're never going to get them solved. Some were going for 31 years, two of them 31. Think of it 31 years. One was 36 years. One was 28 years. I ended seven wars and in all cases they were raging with countless thousands of people being killed. This includes Cambodia and Thailand. Kosovo and Serbia. The Congo and Rwanda. A vicious, violent war. That was. Pakistan and India. Israel and Iran. Egypt and Ethiopia. And Armenia and Azerbaijan. It included all of them. No president or prime minister. And for that matter, no other country has ever done anything close to that. And I did it in just seven months. It's never happened before. There's never been anything like that. Very honored to have done it. It's too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them. And sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try to help in any of them. All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up, stopped right in the middle. If the First lady wasn't in great shape, she would have fallen. But she's in great shape. We're both in good shape. We both stood. And then a teleprompter. That didn't work. This is. These are the two things I got from the United Nations. A bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. I didn't think of it at the time because I was too busy working to save millions of lives. That is the saving and stopping of these wars. But later I realized that the United Nations wasn't there for us. They weren't there. I thought of it really after the fact. Not during not during these negotiations, which were not easy. Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each one of these achievements, but for me, the real prize will be the sons and daughters who live to grow up with the mothers and fathers because millions of people are no longer being killed in endless and inglorious wars. With Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity demolished, I immediately brokered an end to the 12 day war, as it's called, between Israel and Iran, with both sides agreeing to fight. fight no longer. As everyone knows, I have also been deeply engaged in seeking a ceasefire in Gaza. Have to get that done, have to get it done. Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace. We can't forget October 7th, can we? Now, as if to encourage continued conflict. Some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists for their atrocities. This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities. Europe is in serious trouble. They've been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody's ever seen before. Illegal aliens are pouring into Europe. Nobody is ever. And nobody's doing anything to change it, to get them out. It's not sustainable. And because they choose to be politically correct, they're doing just absolutely nothing about it. And I have to say, I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it's been so changed, so changed. Climate change. It's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion. Climate change, no matter what happens, you're involved in that. No more global warming, no more global cooling. All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong. They were made by stupid people that have cost their country's fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success. If you don't get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail. And I'm really good at predicting things. You know, they actually said during the campaign that a hat, the best selling hat. Trump was right about everything. And I don't say that in a braggadocious way, but it's true. I've been right about everything. And I'm telling you that if you don't get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7319639/trump-un-speech-takeaways/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7319639/trump-un-speech-takeaways/"},"headline":"Trump's Latest Speech to the U.N. General Assembly Sounded Very Different From His First","datePublished":"2025-09-23T17:23:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T08:11:23.208Z","description":"Trump made statements in 2017 that the Trump of today would likely disavow","url":"https://time.com/7319639/trump-un-speech-takeaways/","keywords":["The D.C. 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