Trump returns to UN at a moment of anxiety about Iran, AI and the future
of world body itself
[September 22, 2026]
By AAMER MADHANI
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to address the U.N.
General Assembly on Tuesday at a tumultuous moment for the world — and
for his presidency.
The global economy has been shaken by his decision to launch a war
against Iran. Anxiety about the social impact being wrought by
artificial intelligence is surging. And questions linger about the
future of the United Nations itself with Trump's scaling back U.S.
financial support for the United Nations.
After his speech to the annual gathering of world leaders, Trump is
expected to hold talks with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham,
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and a more informal meeting with
Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez, according to the White
House.
He's also set to meet with leaders and senior officials from Gulf
Cooperation Council nations — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, and United Arab Emirates — to discuss the way ahead with the war
in Iran and growing concern about recent Iran-backed rebels attacks on
Saudi Arabia.
The visit to the U.N. comes at a moment when Trump's foreign policy
approach — particularly his decision to start a war with Iran — has
become a drag on his fellow Republicans' hopes of retaining control of
both chambers of Congress during the coming midterm elections.
Nevertheless, administration officials signaled Trump will make the case
in his address that the world is better off for his leadership.
“We expect the president will highlight how he has and his
administration have confronted complex problems head-on around the
world,” Ambassador Mike Waltz, Trump's chief envoy to the international
body, told reporters.
Waltz also suggested that Trump might revisit some of his long-held
criticism of the United Nations. The president has criticized the body
as being ineffectual on issues of war and peace, has claimed the
organization is perpetuating a “con job” by emphasizing the need to
address global warming, and has asserted the U.N. has promoted the
“invasion” of migrants into Europe.
Iran war to loom large
In last year's address at the U.N., Trump claimed the U.S. had
“demolished” Iran's nuclear capabilities after he ordered the June 2025
bombardment of three key facilities.
He returns to the General Assembly nearing the seven-month mark of a new
war against Iran that he insists is necessary to address a nuclear
threat posed by Iran.
The war has grown more complicated even though strikes by the United
States and Israel have killed much of Iran's top leadership and
destroyed its air force and navy, while a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil
has left Tehran in economic shambles.
The passage of oil from other Gulf countries through the Strait of
Hormuz has improved in recent weeks with the help of the U.S. Navy
helping guide commercial vessels through the narrow waterway. Still, the
flow of oil is significantly below pre-war levels. And Brent crude
continues to hover around $100 per barrel, up from about the $70 range
in the weeks before the start of the war.
But the energy market continues to be spooked. Saudi Arabia shuttered a
key pipeline earlier this month that acted as a relief valve for oil
blocked in the Gulf. The kingdom made the move after the pipeline came
under attack by Iran-backed militants in Iraq.
At the same time, territorial grabs by the Yemen-based Houthi rebels,
another Iranian-backed group, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait has now made
it treacherous for oil carriers to use that Red Sea shipping lane.
Majed al-Ansari, chief spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said
Monday that Qatar and other mediators are trying to penetrate a “deep
deficit of trust” between the U.S. and Iran and get the sides back to
negotiations.
“What we’re trying to say is that, ‘Listen, this will end at the
negotiating table,” said al-Ansari, speaking at the Concordia Annual
Summit, a global affairs forum taking place during the U.N.’s high-level
week. “Either we sign a deal now or sign a deal 10 months away. The only
difference is the number of dead and destruction that we see.”
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President Donald Trump gestures as he addresses the 80th session of
the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 23, 2025, at U.N.
headquarters. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
The administration will sign a Greenland deal
At last year's General Assembly, Trump touted his record as a
peacemaker and claimed that “everyone says that I should get the
Nobel Peace Prize” for his administration's efforts mediating
several conflicts around the globe.
This year, his administration is set to sign an agreement on the
sidelines of the General Assembly with Danish and Greenlandic
leaders that aims to set the pathway for the expansion of U.S.
military's footprint on Greenland.
The deal, announced last week, came together after Trump repeatedly
threatened to “take over” Greenland, a territory of NATO-ally
Denmark, by military force if necessary.
Under the deal, Greenland remains Denmark's territory. “I’m looking
forward to the meeting tomorrow. I think we have reached a good
agreement,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster
TV2 Denmark.
Trump's frustration with Russia-Ukraine war mounts
The president could also touch on Russia's continuing war against
Ukraine during the address — a conflict that during his 2024
campaign he predicted would be resolved on Day One of his second
term.
The president has routinely expressed frustration about the
conflict. He hasn't obscured that his patience is being tested by
Ukraine's targeting of Russia's diesel refineries — an issue that's
added to oil markets' volatility — and Russia's targeting of
Ukraine's energy grid.
Trump last week asserted that he got the two sides to agree to not
target each other's energy infrastructure. Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was willing to go along with Trump's
plan if Russia abided by it. Russia said it could only go along with
Trump's energy truce proposal if Western energy sanctions on Moscow
were lifted first.
The two sides have continued carrying out strikes on refineries and
other energy infrastructure. Trump on Monday, before departing for
New York, expressed his frustration with targeting of energy
infrastructure.
“Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry
due to its War with Ukraine," Trump posted on social media on
Monday. He added, “This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine
must be ended.”
Trump to hold critical talks with UK, Japan and Venezuela leaders
The president is set to hold his first face-to-face meeting with
Burnham, the center-left Labour Party leader who became prime
minister in July.
With elevated oil prices dragging the British economy, he may also
be eager to discuss ways to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He
announced on Monday that he would send a Royal Air Force plane to
the Mideast to help Saudi Arabia repel attacks from Houthi rebels.
The plane will refuel Saudi planes during “defensive” missions.
Trump's meeting with Japan's Takaichi comes as he prepares to
welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week to Washington
for a state visit.
The historically complicated Japan-China relationship became even
more fraught after Takaichi said last year that Japan’s military
could intervene if China were to take action against Taiwan — a
semi-autonomous island democracy that Beijing considers its own
territory. The tensions have spilled over into the China-Japan
economic relationship.
Trump's engagement with Rodriguez, Venezuela's interim president,
will be the first meeting between the two leaders since Trump in
January ordered a U.S. military operation to capture former
President Nicolás Maduro and swept him off to New York City to face
federal narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges.
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