Donald Trump accused the United Nations of ‘funding an assault’ on the West through immigration and warned Europe is ‘going to hell’ in an astonishing address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
The U.S. President called for an end to ‘the failed experiment of open borders’ as he lauded the success of his own hard line immigration crackdown.
‘The United Nations is funding an assault on Western countries and their borders,’ he said during a blistering attack on the organisation before world leaders in New York City.
‘The UN is supporting people that are illegally coming into the United States,’ he said, pointing to cash support the organisation had supplied to in need migrants.
He said the UN is supposed to protect countries from ‘invasions’ and ‘not create them and not finance them’, asserting that uncontrolled migration was the top issue of our time in a wandering speech lasting nearly an hour, intended to last 15 minutes.
Addressing western allies he said plainly: ‘Your countries are being ruined by uncontrolled immigration’.
‘Europe is in serious trouble,’ he added by way of illustration. ‘They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like no-one has ever seen before. And nobody’s doing anything to change it, to get them out.’
‘It’s not sustainable. And because they choose to be politically correct they’re doing absolutely nothing about it.’
‘I look at London where you have a terrible mayor and it’s been so changed,’ he said, turning his attention to nemesis Sadiq Khan before claiming: ‘Now they want to go to Sharia law but you’re in a different country, you can’t do that.’
As well as attacking the U.N. over uncontrolled immigration, the President:
- Criticised Keir Starmer and other Western allies for ‘rewarding’ Hamas by recognising Palestine
- Called climate change ‘the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world’
- Mocked the UN for doing nothing but ‘writing strongly worded letters’ but not ‘solving any wars’
- Lauded his own efforts to end seven wars, while also heralding military strikes against Iran and alleged drug smugglers from Venezuela
- Condemned Europe for failing to stop oil purchases from Russia.
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on September 23, 2025
Trump gave an address to world leaders in New York City on September 23, 2025
A spokesperson for Sadiq Khan’s office said: ‘We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.
‘London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.’
UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting hit back at Trump’s claim, writing on X that Khan was not ‘trying to impose sharia law’ on London.
‘This is a mayor who marches with Pride, who stands up for difference of background and opinion, who’s focused on improving our transport, our air, our streets, our safety, our choices and chances,’ he said.
Watched by the world, Trump used his speech to boast of his own accomplishments during his first term in office while criticising the efforts of the United Nations.
In a wandering address, he also took aim at European nations for continuing to buy Russian oil and gas, adding that he would not impose sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine until Western allies cut off their purchases.
‘It’s embarrassing to them, and it was very embarrassing to them when I found out about it,’ he said. ‘They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia. Otherwise, we’re all wasting a lot of time.’
European nations have reduced imports from Russia since the February 2022 invasion, but continue to purchase gas.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) listens during the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on September 23, 2025
Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia attends the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2025
On the thread of war, Trump reiterated claims he had ended seven conflicts around the world while criticising the United Nations for not offering assistance.
Trump has claimed responsibility for brokering peace deals between Armenia and Azerbaijan; Cambodia and Thailand; Israel and Iran; India and Pakistan; Rwanda and the DRC; Egypt and Ethiopia; and Serbia and Kosovo.
‘I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalising the deal,’ he claimed.
In a scathing attack, he asked: ‘What is the purpose of the United Nations?’
‘All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter. It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.’
‘I’ve always said (the U.N.) has such tremendous, tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential.’
Trump even complained about a broken escalator and teleprompter at the New York headquarters of the UN, which he has repeatedly targeted during both of his presidential terms.
‘This is these are the two things I got from the United Nations, a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,’ he said.
Trump’s speech, which began without a teleprompter, digressed as he went off script.
(L/R) Queen Mathilde of Belgium and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands listen as US President Donald Trump delivers remarks
President Donald Trump addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly
Trump motions as he leaves after addressing the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025
Trump did acknowledge two major conflicts where his outreach has produced no results – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
He called recognition by a slate of Washington’s allies of a Palestinian state a ‘reward’ to armed group Hamas for ‘horrible atrocities’ and urged the group to release hostages to reach peace.
While praising his own efforts to broker peace, Trump also lauded his decisions to order the U.S. military to carry out strikes on Iran and more recently against alleged drug smugglers from Venezuela.
He went on to champion the decision to bring the National Guard into Washington DC to crackdown on crime – a move derided by critics as echoing authoritarianism.
DC is now a ‘totally safe city again’, he said, adding that while his decision was ‘not politically correct’, it did the job.
Trump’s second term has opened with a blaze of nationalist policies curbing cooperation with the rest of the world.
He has moved to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization and the UN climate pact, severely curtailed US development assistance and wielded sanctions against foreign judges over rulings he sees as violating sovereignty.
Opening the annual summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that aid cuts led by the United States were ‘wreaking havoc’ in the world.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacts while listening to Trump’s speech
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa attends the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States, on September 23
‘What kind of world will we choose? A world of raw power – or a world of laws?’ Guterres said.
On Ukraine, Trump will meet President Volodymyr Zelensky for the second time since he sat down in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 – a summit that broke Moscow’s isolation in the West but yielded no breakthrough on Ukraine.
Despite Trump’s insistence that he can broker a quick end to the war, Russia has not only kept up its barrage of attacks on Ukraine in the past month but rattled nerves with drone or air incursions in NATO members Poland, Estonia and Romania.
Trump said last week that Putin had ‘really let me down.’
