Trump heads to U.N. looking for wins after a rough week

US President Donald Trump speaks about healthcare in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 18, 2026. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump is set to address world leaders Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York after a challenging few weeks with a series of legal and political setbacks.

He's also riding a wave of low approval - below 40% - thanks in part to growing concerns about the economic fallout from the Iran war. He's also facing blowback after banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. The news organizations have sued to regain access.

Less than two months from the midterm elections, Trump is looking for wins as he kicks off a high-profile week of diplomacy at the U.N. before hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington.

In his speech, Trump is expected to paint himself as a peacemaker – highlighting peace deals he's announced around the world while defending his Iran policy.

"The president will highlight how he has, and his administration, have confronted complex problems head-on around the world," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz told reporters, adding later. "He will touch on the importance of ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon."

Undoubtedly, leaders will be eager to hear what the U.S. president has to say. He often makes news.

The first time he addressed the U.N. General Assembly in 2017, Trump threatened to totally destroy North Korea. The second year he boasted that his administration had accomplished more than any other in American history. Some leaders laughed out loud.

Last year, Trump blasted the U.N. and told leaders "your countries are going to hell."

"What is the purpose of the United Nations?" Trump asked. "It has such tremendous, tremendous potential. But it's not even coming close to living up to that potential."

Speaking of wins, Trump may want to tout his recently announced new deal with Denmark over security of Greenland.

He will also defend his decision to strike Iran. Interestingly, he'll be doing so in front of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to speak after Trump on Wednesday.

Much of the diplomacy will be happening on the sidelines of the event.

Trump is expected to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, as well as Gulf leaders, and Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodríguez.

The importance of those meetings speaks to the changing role of the UN as an institution, said Richard Fontaine, who served in the George W. Bush White House and now runs the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank focused on national security issues.

"The meat of the diplomacy will be done in the private meetings, not at the U.N. Security Council or in the U.N. General Assembly," Fontaine said.

The U.N. security council has also struggled to come to agreement on key issues.

Another issue at the top of the agenda is artificial intelligence. A U.N. panel recently called for stronger safeguards on artificial intelligence agents.

Leaders are expected to try to come to some kind of global agreement on guardrails around the advancing technology.

The dilemma is that so many of these issues revolve around China and President Xi won't be there, said Heather Conley, who worked on European issues in the Bush State Department.

"So this is the challenge," Conley said. "In many ways we have global leaders coming to New York to offer their own set piece speeches, how they look at the world. But the world will not be looking towards New York on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. They're going to be looking at Washington."

That's because Xi will not be traveling to New York. He will instead be traveling to Washington, D.C. for a state dinner with Trump.