Trump expected to defend Iran war, tout Gaza peace efforts during speech to UN

UNITED NATIONS — US President Donald Trump is expected to claim he is winning both on the battlefield and as a peacemaker Tuesday in a speech to the United Nations overshadowed by growing spillover from his stalled war against Iran.

Trump will likely not hold back in renewing his frequent boasts that under him the United States is “the hottest country” in the world.

He is also expected to seek to justify the Iran war, which has so far failed to fulfill the White House and Israel’s objectives and provoked widespread economic damage over the Strait of Hormuz’s closure.

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But the self-styled peacemaker could equally use the UN stage to tout his controversial efforts to end the Gaza conflict and his ongoing effort to bring more Arab countries into the Abraham Accords with Israel.

Talks to bring about Hamas’s disarmament and the territory’s reconstruction following the war — sparked by the terror group with its massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 — have made only limited progress.

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“No one knows what Trump is going to say, not even Trump’s speechwriters,” International Crisis Group’s Daniel Forti said.

“This year, we expect more of a contrast between Trump sort of both announcing and celebrating his record as a peacemaker versus defending his ongoing military operations around the world,” said Forti.

“It’s not entirely clear what reaction Trump’s going to get from world leaders.”

An anti-UN speech?

The keynote speech at the start of the UN General Assembly High-level Week will provide Trump with a big platform to renew his frequent assaults on the global body.

Last year’s speech was characterized by Trump’s extraordinary accusations of UN sabotage when an escalator in the New York headquarters briefly stopped working, and the teleprompter glitched.

Trump has regularly attacked the UN and its leader Antonio Guterres since returning to office, although Washington last week reportedly paid $725 million into its budget, avoiding the embarrassment of losing some of its voting rights.

He is also likely to meet skepticism over his claims of a historic win for the United States when a security deal is signed Tuesday for a US presence in Greenland — a territory of Denmark that Trump repeatedly threatened, driving bitter divisions through longtime US-led alliances.

As well as his closely watched speech to the General Assembly, Trump will hold side meetings with Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has governed under intense American pressure since her predecessor Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces in January.

Escalator-gate

Last year, Trump’s speech to the gathering of world leaders veered into a rant about an escalator that stalled as he was using it, suggesting it was done deliberately.

He also railed against a defective teleprompter, falsely accused London’s mayor of imposing Islamic law, and said Europe was in “serious trouble” over migration.

Trump clearly has not gotten over the incidents.

“They turned off the escalator,” Trump said last week in the Oval Office.

“Fortunately, my first lady was very strong, and I was able to grab her back or another part of her body. It was actually a little bit lower than the back,” he said.

The offending escalator “has been checked and rechecked,” Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday.

“New arrangements were made to facilitate the US delegation’s use of a teleprompter; they now have a separate booth, so we hope that will work without a hitch,” he added.

AI and war

Guterres, who kicks off the week of speeches, is expected to touch on the explosion of artificial intelligence and the multiple wars raging globally.

Next up — just before Trump — will be Brazilian President Lula Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country by tradition is always first to speak at the annual gathering of leaders.

Trump, who has supported Lula’s opponents and other right-wing candidates across Latin America, may not like what he hears.

Leftist Lula, running for reelection, said last week that he would tell Trump to not “meddle” in Brazil’s upcoming vote.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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