Trump criticizes European allies in U.N. speech: "Your countries are going to hell"

The president began meeting with Middle East leaders shortly after 4 p.m., and said it was a "very important meeting having to do with Gaza."

The president is sitting down with the leaders of Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as Indonesia. Representatives for the Israelis and Palestinians were not present. 

"We want to end the war in Gaza. We're going to end it," Mr. Trump said, adding, "maybe we can end it right now."

The president said life in the Middle East is beautiful but "much more beautiful without wars."

"This is my most important meeting," he added. 

Seated with French President Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Trump said Macron has been helpful in addressing the Russia-Ukraine war. He also said the French president has helped him settle international conflicts around the world. 

Macron said he agrees with the statement the president made on Truth Social that Ukraine, that with Europe's help, Ukraine can regain its land. 

"Let them get their land back," Mr. Trump said. 

More than once, Mr. Trump called Macron a longtime friend, and expressed appreciation for his friendship. 

After meeting for about an hour with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mr. Trump said he believes Ukraine can win back all of its territory from Russia "in its original form." 

"After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form," the president wrote on Truth Social Tuesday. 

"With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option," he continued. "Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like 'a paper tiger.'"

The statement appears to be a departure from Mr. Trump's previous remarks on the war. In the past months and weeks, he has suggested land swaps might be necessary. Zelenskyy has said Ukraine will not cede territory to Russia.

During a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a reporter asked Mr. Trump if NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft that enters their airspace. NATO has warned Russia to stop its "escalatory" actions after Russian aircraft entered Estonian airspace. 

"Yes, I do," he said. 

Earlier this month, Russian drones invaded Poland's airspace and were eventually shot down by allied NATO airplanes. Mr. Trump said the drone incursion "could have been a mistake," although Poland has rejected that it was a mistake. Ten days later, Estonia said several Russian fighter jets entered its airspace. 

Mr. Trump said he and Zelenskyy will discuss security guarantees "later down the road," not today. He didn't express optimism for a swift end to the war. 

"It looks like it's not going to end for a long time," he said. 

The president said the "biggest progress" in Ukraine is that the Russian economy is "terrible right now," and Ukraine is doing a very good job in stopping Russia's army. 

"He's putting up one hell of a fight," the president said of Zelenskyy. 

Zelenskyy thanked Mr. Trump for his support, as well as the support of other NATO members. 

"We will continue until Russia will stop this war," Zelenskyy said. 

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, was asked how soon she believes Europe can stop buying Russian oil and gas. Mr. Trump has insisted that European nations need to stop buying Russian energy. And while Europe has reduced its dependence on Russian oil, some member countries are dependent on Russian energy. 

The EU Commission president, seated alongside Mr. Trump, said "President Trump is absolutely right."

She said Europe is trying to get rid of the "last bits" of dependence on Russian energy. But the EU consists of 28 member countries, and they all need to be on board, she said. 

"We want to get rid of it," she said, adding that Europe "absolutely" wants to be out of Russian energy before their target of 2027. 

Von der Leyen said she expects she and Mr. Trump will largely discuss Ukraine, and the missing Ukrainian children since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. 

Seated alongside Argentina's President Javier Milei, Mr. Trump endorsed Milei for a second term. Milei, Mr. Trump's ideological ally, took office in 2023. The next election is not set to take place until 2027.

"To the people of Argentina, we're backing him 100%," Mr. Trump said, adding, "It's an honor for me to endorse the president and the future president of Argentina." 

But the president played down the idea that the U.S. might throw Milei and Argentina a financial lifeline. The country has faced market turbulence that has thrown the country into economic chaos. Mr. Trump said Milei inherited a mess. 

"Well, we're going to help them. I don't think they need a bailout," Mr. Trump said. "He's done a fantastic job."

After heavily criticizing the U.N. during his speech minutes before, Mr. Trump said during a meeting with U.N. Secretary General  António Guterres that the U.S. is "behind the United Nations." 

"Our country is behind the United Nations 100%" he said. He thanked Guterras for "treating us so warmly" and saying the U.N. brings a great opportunity for peace. 

"I may disagree with it sometimes but I am so behind it because I think the potential for peace for this institution is so great," Mr. Trump said. 

Only minutes before in his speech to the entire assembly, the president criticized the U.N. for not brokering the international peace deals for which the president takes credit. 

"It's too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them," he said earlier. "... That being the case, what is the purpose of the United Nations?" 

Mr. Trump again mentioned the faulty escalator at the U.N. and the temporarily broken teleprompter, saying those things made his visit "a little more exciting." 

For his part, Guterres said the U.S. is instrumental to the U.N. Guterres said the president has been traveling all over the world in an effort to make peace agreements. 

"I want to reassure you that the United Nations … we are entirely at your disposal to be able to work together for a just peace," Guterres said. 

Mr. Trump urged other nations' leaders to celebrate the principles upon which the U.S. was founded nearly 250 years ago, including free speech and religious liberty. The president's comments come days after he said the licenses that enable television networks to air should perhaps be revoked over networks' negative coverage of him. 

The president also called Christianity the "most persecuted religion on the planet." 

"Together, let us defend free speech and free expression," the president said. "Let us protect religious liberty including for the most persecuted religion on the planet today. It's called Christianity." 

After blasting both Europe for higher energy prices and the global focus on climate change and green energy, Mr. Trump praised "clean, beautiful coal." 

"We stand ready to provide any country with abundant, affordable energy supplies if you need them, and most of you do," he said. 

The president talked about how his administration is now using the "supreme power of the United States military" to pursue drug cartels near Venezuela. The U.S. has conducted strikes against three boats suspected of carrying drugs. 

"To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence," the president said. 

Mr. Trump railed against open borders, touting his administration's efforts to restrict migration. 

"It's time to end the failed experiment of open borders," the president said. "You have to end it now. See, I can tell you. I'm really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell."

Mr. Trump said his administration has taken "bold" action to crack down on "uncontrolled migration." 

"Once we started detaining and deporting everyone who crossed the border and removing illegal aliens from the United States, they simply stopped coming," he said. "They're not coming anymore." 

After several key Western allies of the United States announced before the U.N. General Assembly meeting that they are formally recognizing a Palestinian state, Mr. Trump said that would be a "reward for these horrible atrocities, including October 7, even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire." 

Mr. Trump said Hamas has "repeatedly rejected reasonable efforts to make peace." 

"They've taken so much, this could have been solved long ago," Mr. Trump said. "But instead of giving in to Hamas' ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: Release the hostages now." 

There was some applause as Mr. Trump said "we have got to get the hostages back." 

Hamas took 251 people hostage on Oct. 7, and 1,200 people were killed. Most of the hostages have been released through earlier deals, and Israel has said they believe there are 20 captives who are still alive. 

"We want all 20 back," Mr. Trump said. Alluding to prior deals that only released a few hostages at  a time, Mr. Trump said "we don't want two and four." Mr. Trump also said they also want the bodies returned of hostages who had died during the fighting or been killed by Hamas. 

"Those parents came to me and they want them back," Mr. Trump said. 

The president called for an end to the development of all biological and nuclear weapons. 

"I look at weapons that are so powerful that we just can't ever use them," the president said. "If we ever use them, the world literally might come to an end. There would be no United Nations to be talking about. There would be no nothing." 

The president said he'd lead an international effort to stop manufacturing biological weapons and pioneer an AI verification system to that end. 

Mr. Trump said he's been working "relentlessly" to stop the "killing" in Ukraine. He repeated that he expected Russia's war in Ukraine to be easy to resolve. That the war is still going on more than three years later is making Russia "look bad," he said. 

"I thought that was going to be the easiest one but you know in war, you never know what's going to happen," Mr. Trump said. "There are always lots of surprises, both good and bad."

"It was supposed to be just a quick little skirmish," Mr. Trump continued. "It's not making Russia look good. It's making them look bad. No matter what happens from here on out, this was something that should have taken a matter of days, certainly less than a week, and they've been fighting for three and a half years." 

The president also said Europe needs to "immediately" cease all energy purchases from Russia. They'll discuss the matter today with European nations, he said. 

Mr. Trump, who was a real estate developer before he was elected president, complained that his offer to renovate the UN for $500 million, in the early 2000s, wasn't accepted. 

"I bid on the renovation and rebuilding of this very United Nations complex," he said. "I remember it so well. I said at the time that I would do it for $500 million, rebuilding everything." 

"But they decided to go in another direction, which was much more expensive at the time" and produced a "far inferior product," he added.

The president claimed he turned out to be right and there were massive cost overruns. 

"As far as I'm concerned, frankly, looking at the building and getting stuck on the escalator, they still haven't finished the job," he said, telling world leaders that he and the first lady had gotten stuck on the U.N.'s escalator.

Mr. Trump claimed he ended seven "unendable wars" because of the United States' involvement in brokering agreements, saying the U.N. wasn't there to help negotiate. 

"It's too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them," the president said. "... That being the case, what is the purpose of the United Nations?" 

Mr. Trump said he should win the Nobel Peace Prize, but a moment later said the real prize would be saving lives by bringing wars to a close sooner. 

"What I care about is not winning prizes, it's saving lives," he said. 

Reading from his printed notes, Mr. Trump touted the successes of his administration thus far, claiming that "inflation has been defeated." Inflation, however, has ticked up slightly in recent months since the announcement and implementation of his tariffs. 

"This is indeed the golden age of America," the president said. 

Mr. Trump said the only thing that's up is the stock market. The president insisted grocery prices are down from when he took office, although grocery prices rose 2.7% in August compared to one year earlier — the fastest monthly change since the fall of 2022.

The president took the stage, opening his remarks by saying the teleprompter wasn't working. 

"I don't mind making this speech without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter is not working," he said, to laughs. "I feel very happy to be up here with you nevertheless, and that way you speak more from the heart. I can only say that whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble." 

The president's motorcade arrived at the U.N. headquarters at 9:47 a.m.

He is expected to take the stage shortly. 

President Trump is expected to touch on the "return of American strength" and deliver "blunt" and "tough talk" about the failures of globalism during his U.N. address, a White House official said. 

The official said the president will bring up his role in peace agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan; Thailand and Cambodia; and Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

He's also expected to bring up the recent U.S. strikes on boats from Venezuela and the airstrikes conducted by the U.S. on Iranian nuclear sites in June. Fox News first reported Mr. Trump's plans for his U.N. remarks.  

A White House official said the president would "highlight his success in delivering peace on a scale that no other president has accomplished, while simultaneously speaking bluntly about how globalist ideologies risk destroying successful nations around the world."

The official said the president's expected criticism of globalism would include the "global migration regime, energy and climate, and how these ideologies pushed by globalists are on the verge of destroying successful nations."

The senior Palestinian diplomat in the U.K., Ambassador Husam Zomlot, told CBS News on Tuesday that President Trump must live up to his vow to bring peace to the Middle East. 

"We hope the U.S. will join this international momentum, and will be part of this real international quest, for an end to the genocide," Zomlot told CBS News at the Palestinian mission in London. "Whether the president or the Trump administration or any administration, the long-standing U.S. policy is a two-state solution on the 1967 borders. If not now, when? If not during the middle of a genocide, the middle of the most atrocious attack against the Palestinian people…when? The U.S. must be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

Just last week — and for the sixth time since Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel nearly two years ago, sparking the ongoing war — the U.S. vetoed a  U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, criticizing it for not going further in condemning Hamas. Over decades of support for Israel, Washington has vetoed dozens of U.N. resolutions linked to Palestinian sovereignty or statehood.

"It doesn't help," said Zomlot. "It's very counterproductive and it plays into the hands of (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, (Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotrich, (National Security Minister) Itamar Ben-Gvir and the fanatics in the Israeli government."

"I've had the opportunity to meet President Trump several times," he told CBS News, "and he always, always repeated that he is a man of peace. He wants to be the one who makes peace. He wants to be the one to finally, finally reach a peace agreement in Palestine."

"I want him to stick to that promise," the envoy said. "I think doing that requires an immediate, immediate intervention to stop the genocide. It's under his watch." 

The Israeli government has rejected accusations, including from an expert panel commissioned by the United Nations, that its military operations in Gaza amount to genocide against the Palestinians, dismissing the claims as lies based on Hamas propaganda. It says the Israel has no intent to commit genocide and complies with international law. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday on "CBS Mornings" of the effort by several U.S. allies to ask the U.N. to formally recognize a Palestinian state that "the whole thing is irrelevant" as long as the war continues. He added that "it's almost a vanity project for a couple of these world leaders who want to be relevant." He said the effort has "made it even harder to get Hamas to enter into concessions" to bring an end to the war.

The secretary of state said there's "a window [of] opportunity right now" to bring an end to war in Gaza.

"The only leader in the world really that can sort of broker that or bring that together is President Trump," Rubio said. "That's why every country in the region, and frankly, every country in the world, including many of those involved in this recognition effort, are begging the president to get involved in this issue."

Rubio said "we'll have a very important meeting today with the majority of Muslim countries, including the Gulf kingdoms and others in different parts of the world, in the hopes of perhaps taking one last shot here at ending the conflict in Gaza, getting all of the hostages, all of them, released and putting together in place something where humanitarian relief can be provided to people safely without rewarding a terrorist group like Hamas."

As the U.S. hosts leaders from around the world in New York City this week, President Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from multiple U.N. agencies, including the Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization. The U.S. has also cut its contributions to the U.N., with the president and his administration critical of their approach to Israel and extensive U.S.-funded reach around the world. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in New York City for this week's sessions, as he seeks to rally European allies and the Trump administration to continue backing his military.

The fact that the war in Ukraine is ongoing continues to be a point of frustration for Mr. Trump, who insisted during the campaign he would be able to resolve the conflict with Russia in one day. 

"The one that I thought would be easiest would be because of my relationship with President Putin, but he's let me down — he's really let me down — was gonna be Russia and Ukraine," the president said during a press conference last week alongside U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "But we'll see how that turns out. But that turned out to be, I thought it might be among the easiest of the group." 

Meanwhile, Polish President Karol Nawrocki may address the entry of Russian drones into his country's airspace during his U.N. speech later Tuesday. Mr. Trump has said the incursion may have been a mistake, an idea Polish officials have rejected. 

Separately, Leavitt told reporters Monday that the White House is aware of Russia's offer to keep abiding by nuclear warhead limits in the New START treaty with the U.S. when it expires in February, if the U.S. does the same — but only for a year. The nuclear arms reduction treaty between the U.S. and Russia, signed in 2010, calls for halving the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers. 

The Secret Service has disrupted a sprawling telecommunications network in the New York tristate area that investigators say could have posed a threat to this week's General Assembly meetings.

In the largest seizure of its kind, the Secret Service announced Tuesday that the agency found active SIM farms at abandoned apartment buildings located at more than five sites. In total, law enforcement discovered 300 SIM servers – over 100,000 SIM cards – enabling encrypted, anonymous communication and capable of sending 30 million text messages per minute.

Officials say the servers were so powerful they could have disabled cell phone towers and launched distributed denial of services attacks with the ability to block emergency communications like EMS and police dispatch.

"This network had the potential to disable cell phone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City," U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool said in a video released by the agency.

Early analysis shows the network was used for communication between foreign governments and individuals known to U.S. law enforcement, including members of known organized crime gangs, drug cartels and human trafficking rings, according to multiple officials briefed on the investigation.

Read more here.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president will tout the renewal of American strength around the world, list his accomplishments and discuss "how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order." 

The speech comes as the president hopes to settle Russia's war in Ukraine by brokering a deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mr. Trump also called the situation in Gaza a "disaster" over the weekend.

"The hatred between Putin and Zelenskyy is very substantial," the president told reporters Sunday, as a peace deal remains elusive. "There's a lot of bad blood. And of course, Gaza is a basic disaster. We've got to get that taken care of. But the big thing will be that I'm going to be speaking at the United Nations, and I hope to do a good job."

One unusual sight at the U.N. General Assembly's annual sessions is the presence of world leaders who have chilly or even hostile relationships with the United States.

Under a 1947 agreement, the U.S. is generally expected to grant visas to U.N. delegates — even those from U.S. foes — who wish to travel to the organization's headquarters in Manhattan. But those can be subject to restrictions.

The State Department said Monday that Iranian delegates who are in town for this week's meetings will only be allowed to access "areas strictly necessary to transit to and from the UN headquarters district to conduct their official UN business." Iranian officials are also barred from accessing luxury goods or club stores, according to a statement from the department.

"We will not allow the Iranian regime to allow its clerical elites to have a shopping spree in New York while the Iranian people endure poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and dire shortages of water and electricity," the statement read.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to travel to New York for this week's meetings, Iran's government has said.

Last month, the State Department said it would deny visas to members of the Palestinian Authority, which is a U.N. observer rather than a full-fledged member. The department cited national security and accused the organization of "undermining the prospects for peace." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will address the General Assembly in a video.

The Israel-Hamas war is sure to be a frequent topic in this week's speeches. Last week, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding resolution that calls for a phased end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and pushes for the creation of a Palestinian state.

As frustration with the war grows, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada formally recognized a Palestinian state over the weekend, and France followed suit at a U.N. meeting on Monday.

The Trump administration disagrees, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling those U.S. allies' recognition of a Palestinian state "just more talk and not enough action."

French President Emmanuel Macron announced over the summer that he would recognize a Palestinian state, and he said on Monday that France had done so. In an interview last week with CBS News' Margaret Brennan, he argued the move could disempower Hamas. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called the move "reckless," a reaction Macron called "excessive."

Also, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is set to speak on Tuesday, after Israel targeted Hamas leaders in a strike on the Qatari capital of Doha earlier this month. Qatar condemned the move, and Mr. Trump criticized it.

This week's U.N. General Assembly meeting is the first public test for Mike Waltz, who was approved by the Senate only last week to be the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. 

The U.S. has gone without a confirmed ambassador to the U.N. since the start of Mr. Trump's second term as president. Mr. Trump originally nominated Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who gave up her role in congressional leadership for the job, but the president pulled her nomination in March, saying he needed her in Congress due to the GOP's razor-thin majority. 

Waltz previously served as Mr. Trump's national security adviser, but he was replaced in that role by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May.

The U.N. General Assembly includes all United Nations member states. As the U.N.'s primary deliberative body, its members consider and vote on recommendations to tackle major world issues, ranging from climate change to human rights. Its resolutions are often nonbinding.

The body meets every year, starting in September. This year's sessions are also marked by the 80th anniversary of the United Nations' founding.

The U.N. says the theme for the general debate of this session is "Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights."