Trump to address UN General Assembly as Iran war looms large

As the war with Iran nears its eighth month -- impacting global oil prices and stability in the Middle East -- President Donald Trump is set to travel to New York City to address global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly and meet with key leaders on the sidelines of the event.

The assembly is the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and is set to kick off with the general debate on Tuesday, the centerpiece of the annual event that will include speeches from Trump on Tuesday as well as speeches from UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Iran war looms large

Trump is set to meet with Gulf leaders on Tuesday, many of whom have borne the brunt of the economic impacts of the war. The move comes as the Yemeni Houthis targeted Saudi Arabia, which could further impact global gas prices.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz spoke about the meeting with Gulf leaders during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, saying Trump "truly values hearing from them and hearing their concerns" directly.

The attacks on cargo in key shipping channels such as the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb Strait, will be discussed, Waltz said.

"... What you will see at the U.N. General Assembly is a lot of discussion of the freedom of the seas, the U.N. law of the sea, freedom of navigation. Whether it's Straits of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Malacca Straits, we must have free and open commerce," Waltz said.

As the war, which Trump says would last four to six weeks as its outset nears its eighth month, the president is expected to get input from many global leaders hoping to find a solution to the conflict.

Top Iranian officials are set to attend the assembly. The makeup of the Iranian delegation is not yet publicly known, but Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian will be allowed to attend the gathering, according to U.S. officials. At this time, there are not plans for the president to meet with Iranian officials.

The summit also comes as the UN released a report finding "reasonable grounds" to believe that the U.S. carried out two strikes in Iran that resulted in civilian casualties. Those attacks on a girls' school and a sports center, the UN found, were "reasonable grounds to believe that the United States committed the war crime of launching an indiscriminate attack resulting in loss of life or injury to civilians."

However, a State Department official rejected the findings of that report, saying that they "do not give credibility" to its findings.

"The Trump Administration formally withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council following the Council’s consistent failures to uphold its own 'values' as it pushes anti-American rhetoric and antisemitism, all while it appeases repressive regimes, thus making a mockery of the very 'rights' it claims to protect," a State Department official said. "As such, we do not give credibility to findings [sic] this report."

Trump face-to-face with world leaders

On Monday, the president will meet with France's Macron.

Trump will also meet with New York City's Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion on Monday.

The president will take the time during the summit to meet with a swath of America's top allies.

Notably, Trump will also meet face-to-face with Venezuela's interim leader Delcy Rodriguez in a pull-aside meeting on Tuesday.

It will be the first time that the leaders will meet in-person since the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured then-President Nicolas Maduro. The meeting comes just a few weeks after the U.S. and Venezuela struck a landmark oil deal, giving the U.S. government majority control of over 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.

Trump will also meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said in a social media post on Sunday that the meeting "could change a lot," hinting that the meeting might help push forward stalled talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

"The peace track is our number one priority. There are ideas for de-escalation steps and for addressing fundamental security issues – energy security, food security, and the protection of human life. We are working together with the American team and are ready to take really serious steps," Zelenskyy wrote in the post. 

On Tuesday, Trump will deliver his address to the assembly and then have meetings with global leaders.

Trump will meet for the first time with the United Kingdom's Burnham, who recently took office. The president will also meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, an ally with whom he appreciates a warm relationship.

Also on Tuesday, Trump will sign a recently announced security deal with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland in a ceremony in New York, a White House official confirmed to ABC News. Details of the deal so far have not been provided.

Trump's message

At last year's UNGA, Trump touted ending seven "unendable" wars. The president also lashed out at the global organization and has wielded his extensive power of the organization to shrink the organization's budget and foreign activity that he disagrees with.

The president's visit last year was marked by small snags that he said he saw as an effort to stymie him -- including a malfunctioning escalator and teleprompter.

This year, Trump is not expected to shy away from talking about Iran and is also expected to discuss his efforts to strike peace deals around the world.

The president is also expected to talk about the progress on his 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

The president's keynote address will talk about how the president has "confronted complex problems head-on around the world" and to tout the peace deals he's made or is trying to achieve," Waltz said in a call with reporters on Friday.

Though the president has helped to broker ceasefires among various nations, conflict in some of those areas has largely continued; there were no long-term treaties ratified among the nations; and some nations even dispute that Trump did anything to help. Long-term, unresolved tensions still exist among many of the nations.

"He will touch on the importance of ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon, which is not only demanded by the United States, has been demanded by the UN Security Council and repeated resolutions, and he'll talk about some of the United States' accomplishments in over the past year, since the last time he was here, including in the Western Hemisphere, progress on the president's 20-point peace plan in Gaza, and more," Waltz said.