It was meant to be one of the most important foreign policy speeches of his presidency—the first since launching his war in Iran and the last before November’s midterm elections.
But as Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, one world leader was caught scrolling on his phone, another top diplomat looked like they were struggling to stay awake, and two member countries walked out as Trump threatened to annihilate one nation and dominate the other.
One year after a faulty escalator and teleprompter sent the president into a spin at the UN, Trump returned on Tuesday to deliver another speech designed to reassert America’s strength on the world stage.
In an address lasting roughly 40 minutes, the president boasted about his military campaign in Iran, celebrated the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, and touted a new deal giving the U.S. expanded military access in Greenland.
He also called for artificial intelligence—a field in which he and his family have numerous vested interests—to be dubbed “super intelligence”.
“From this point forward, all of United States documents and hopefully the world’s will be changed to use the much more accurate term ‘super’ as opposed to ‘artificial,’” he told the General Assembly. “Welcome to the new world of Super Intelligence.”
But the spectacle inside the chamber was as revealing as the speech itself.
Cuban officials walked out after Trump called Cuba a “failed state” and declared that “freedom will be coming” to its citizens courtesy of America.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose country remains locked in a trade war with Washington, was caught scrolling on his phone throughout the address.
And an official from Bosnia and Herzegovina rubbed his face and looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open as Trump delivered his remarks.
And then came Iran.
With members of the Iran delegation sitting in the room, Trump declared he had a choice between diplomacy and destruction.
“I have a big decision to make,” Trump told the international body.
”Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Maybe the greatest in the Middle East or even the world?
“Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” he continued.
The Iranian delegation subsequently walked out.
The speech came amid a particularly awkward moment for Trump and the press.
Just before entering the UN, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins confronted him, days after he had banned her network from the White House.
The anchor of The Source began asking the president about a new poll suggesting two-thirds of Americans don’t believe the U.S. is winning the war against Iran.
“I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me,” he told her. “You shouldn’t be here. You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering.”
The president’s remarks appeared to misunderstand how the free press works in America.
While Trump has prevented three outlets from entering the White House grounds by revoking their hard passes, he can not simply ban the media from covering him at a public or global gathering, no matter how much he dislikes them.
“The United Nations let us in,” Collins explained, confirming that CNN had been credentialed by the organizing body.
Trump’s packed diplomatic schedule on Tuesday also included a trilateral signing with Denmark and Greenland, formalizing a new Arctic security agreement that expands America’s military presence on the island.
He also had his first face-to-face meeting with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and was due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the grinding war against Russia again high on the agenda.
“We will get that one done,” he claimed, again referring to ending a war he promised to resolve on “day one” of his presidency.
“It’s going to happen, I think, more quickly than people understand.”
