By Nilofar Suhrawardy
Without doubt, as the US President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly, he was heard with rapt attention. He set the tone of his speech by beginning with criticism of UN. It is possible, Trump is angry at Palestine being given so much importance by UN and has chosen to lash out at it in his own style. Nevertheless, each word of his was heard very seriously. There is nothing surprising about this as he himself tacitly underlined during his address that he has greater authority and power than the UN. Perhaps, what needs to be clearly understood that his authority and power exists as US President and not simply as Donald Trump. This point is being deliberately made as he credited himself for having brought several wars to an end/ceasefire, to do which UN played no role. Or perhaps as he probably implied, he succeeded where UN failed. Here, he didn’t fail to state that “everyone” thought that he should be given Nobel Peace Prize for doing so. However, for a change, he chose not to repeat this point.
One is tempted to also wonder as to whether he was addressing American citizens during an electoral campaign and not respected leaders from across the world. The frequency with which he criticized his predecessor and highlighted his “failures” in comparison to his (Trump) having succeeded naturally draws attention to this point. But then well, this seems to be his, that of Trump’s style putting forward his own point, as he desires to, without failing to criticizing his predecessor. Unintentionally, perhaps, this also led to his criticism of his own country, though not with him as president but during the term of his predecessor. This naturally makes one wonder whether he was giving importance to his self, that is Donald Trump, pushing that of United States to the background. Perhaps, this may not have been his point. But his words can certainly be interpreted from various angles. It may be reiterated, he was making (or supposed to be) the address as US President and not just as Donald Trump. Nevertheless, this was to a degree balanced by his commenting on US having the most powerful weaponry in the world.
But Trump remains Trump. He credited himself for having demolished Iran’s uranium enrichment facility. He did not refrain from threatening severe consequences for those fuelling Ukraine-crisis by buying oil from Russia. Interestingly, he did not fail to mention Gaza-war with emphasis on it being brought to an end. As expected, he did not blame Israel for its continuity but emphasized that hostages must be returned. No reference was also made to UN’s role regarding the Gaza-war. It is possible, this is one issue, where US probably does not appreciate the role being played by UN, which has repeatedly called for an end to Gaza-war. Trump is also probably not pleased with its key allies, including Britain, having announced their recognition of Palestine as a state. This week has also been marked by France, Canada, Australia, Portugal and several other countries recognizing Palestine as a state. Expressing his displeasure at this, Trump said during his address that this would further encourage Hamas terrorists and their “atrocities.” This is one move of the UN, which has support of the majority, but that of US and Israel. In other words, recognition of Palestine as a state has reached this stage because of UN.
Of course, Trump certainly made a valid point by strongly criticizing UN but then there is a crucial point which cannot be missed here. Not the UN, but the UN members particularly the most powerful members of the body should be blamed for the stage it has reached, leading to criticism from US President Trump. Limitations of UN are due to what, it seems, they have reduced UN to!
Nilofar Suhrawardy is a senior journalist and writer with specialization in communication studies and nuclear diplomacy. She has come out with several books.
24 September 2025
Source: countercurrents.org