Trump claims he stopped 7 ‘unendable wars’; slams UN’s ‘empty words’ at UNGA speech | WATCH

United Nations, United States: US President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, marking his first speech at the world body since returning to office. During his address, he claimed credit for ending seven long-standing conflicts and criticised the UN, describing it as “empty words that don’t solve wars.”

Trump also took aim at the UN itself, questioning its effectiveness and mocking the quality of the New York headquarters. “The UN has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it – it has tremendous, tremendous potential. But it’s not even coming close to living up to it,” he said.

“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. It's empty words and empty words don't solve wars.”

Trump wasted little time telling representatives of countries across the world that the US is “the hottest country anywhere in the world, and there is no other country even close.”

He added later that the US is “the best country on Earth to do business” and claimed the economy now is “bigger and even better” than during his first term, which he described as “the greatest ... in the history of the world.” And he claimed the US is “respected again” like never before.

He detailed the conflicts he said he had helped resolve, emphasising their duration and the lack of UN involvement. “Likewise, in a period of just seven months, I have ended seven unendable wars. They said they were unendable. Some were going for 31 years. Two of them, 31 think of it, 31 years. One was 36 years, one was 28 years,” he added.
He continued, “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.” Trump also called China, India 'primary funders' of Russia's Ukraine war.

He further criticised the UN for not supporting his diplomatic efforts. “No Prime Minister, President, or any other country has done anything close to this. I did it in 7 months – never happened before. It’s too bad I had to do these things instead of the UN. Sadly, the UN did not even try to help in any of them. I ended seven wars and dealt with each and every leader and never even received a phone call from the UN offering to help finalise the deal,” he added.

The 79-year-old even complained about a broken escalator and teleprompter at the New York headquarters of the UN, which he has repeatedly targeted during both of his presidential terms.

“All I got was an escalator that 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 are in good shape so we stood. The teleprompter didn’t work. These are the two things I got from the UN,” he quipped, adding that the teleprompter issue had now been resolved.

Earlier today, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump’s UN address would focus on “the renewal of American strength around the world.” The 80th session of the UN General Assembly, attended by world leaders in New York this week, is expected to concentrate on ongoing conflicts, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.