President Trump will brandish his reputation as a peacemaker Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly and address several insoluble conflicts around the globe.
Mr. Trump has plenty of foreign policy wins to highlight in his speech before roughly 150 world leaders. He has secured the release of Hamas hostages, committed millions of dollars to address famine in the Gaza Strip and damaged Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. The president also claims to have ended seven wars.
He and other world leaders think it is a record worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, and Mr. Trump will try to advance his bid for that honor at the General Assembly.
However, the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine persist, Mr. Trump has deployed warships to Venezuela and sunk three Venezuelan boats that the White House said were carrying drugs, and nuclear tensions remain with Iran.
Mr. Trump is expected to use his speech to promote a peace through strength agenda, but that will require him to navigate a rhetorical tightrope. On one hand, he needs to warn U.S. adversaries against escalating conflicts, but he also must temper his remarks so as not to sound like he has come to the United Nations to threaten war.
“His speech is going to be driven by how much he really believes he has a chance of getting the Nobel Peace Prize,” said retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “If he thinks it’s still something he can do, then I think he knows you don’t go to the U.N. and drop a grenade down a tank hatch and shut it.
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“So, instead of being a condemnation [of other nations] for past behavior, I think it will be a demand for future behaviors,” Mr. Montgomery said.
Mr. Trump has long insisted he should receive the Nobel Prize, but he has recently cooled toward the prestigious accolade, saying he is not seeking attention but wants to “save lives.”
Speaking to reporters last week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the global tensions must be addressed at the General Assembly this week.
“We are gathering in turbulent, even uncharted, waters,” Mr. Guterres said. “Geopolitical divides widening, conflicts raging, impunity escalating, our planet overheating. And international cooperation is straining under pressure unseen in our lifetimes.”
Mr. Guterres said addressing those issues would fall on Mr. Trump and the U.S.
“The U.N. has very strong efforts in peace mediation … but we have no carrots and no sticks,” Mr. Guterres said. “The United States has carrots and sticks.”
The U.N. Security Council is the organization’s only body that can impose sanctions on conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, though it won’t because the U.S. and Russia hold veto power.
Mr. Trump will have a busy day of diplomacy Tuesday, with plans to meet with as many as 20 world leaders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that he will meet with Mr. Trump and urge the U.S. to impose more sanctions on Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to reject peace talks.
“We expect sanctions if there is no meeting between the leaders or, for example, no ceasefire,” Mr. Zelenskyy said recently.
Mr. Trump is also expected to meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. After the two met in May, Mr. Trump eased sanctions against Syria.
Even if Mr. Trump works to entice peace, it’s unclear whether anyone at the General Assembly will listen to him. He is not popular at the United Nations and is slashing U.S. funding for the world body.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Guterres have not spoken about any topic of substance in nearly a year.
Since returning to the White House, Mr. Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the U.N. Human Rights Council, stopped funding for the Palestinian relief agency and halted U.S. engagement with the U.N. cultural organization, UNESCO.
Mr. Trump said the United Nations has “great potential” but needs to “get its act together.” He has accused the global intergovernmental organization of being poorly managed and failing to help him broker peace in various international conflicts.
The president is further expected to inflame tensions by calling for U.N. members to do more to help humanitarian efforts.
“For decades, the United States has led the world in shouldering the burden of international humanitarian assistance,” the State Department wrote in an email shared with U.S. embassies outlining its priorities for the General Assembly meetings.
The U.S. has always been the largest donor to the United Nations. In 2023, it contributed $13 billion to the United Nations and its agencies. Of that total, 24% were assessed contributions and 75% were voluntary.
Adm. Montgomery said the president will likely call out the nations diplomatically, unlike in the more combative speeches he delivered during his first term.
“He’s evolved and become a more wizened president in terms of how the power works,” Adm. Montgomery said. “If he wants that you don’t do it by flattening the earth around him at the U.N., but rather building them up, saying this is what I demand from you, not this is where I condemn you.”
The conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine are expected to be the primary focus of Mr. Trump’s remarks. The war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza has lasted almost two years, and the humanitarian crisis has worsened in the Palestinian enclave. Famine has taken hold and is expected to worsen.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Friday. Israel unleashed a massive ground assault in Gaza on Sept. 16, and Mr. Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. He and the U.S. have denied any Israeli war crimes.
“We will remind the world once again that this war will not end with the hostages left behind in Gaza,” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations told reporters.
Meanwhile, France hopes to advance the formal recognition of a Palestinian state. Australia, Belgium, Canada and Britain support the idea.
Then there is Russia’s more than 3-year-old war in Ukraine. Mr. Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will address the General Assembly. When Mr. Lavrov addressed the General Assembly last year, he blamed Ukraine for the war.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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