Trump touts his economy and U.S. actions in Iran in UNGA address

President Trump touted what he portrayed as international and domestic triumphs in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: The president of Iran told the United Nations moments ago that his people have been, quote, "victims of terrorism" perpetrated by the United States. He spoke a day after President Trump addressed the United Nations, listing options for Iran ranging from total destruction to a peace deal sometime after the U.S. election. Trump also appealed for international cooperation before the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In a moment, we will discuss that speech and more with Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz. We begin with the news. LEILA FADEL, HOST: NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram joins us to discuss. Hi, Deepa. DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning. FADEL: Good morning. So first, just catch us up on what Trump said in his speech in New York. SHIVARAM: Yeah. I will say it was a pretty brief speech overall, as far as Trump's speeches go. He talked about U.S. actions in Venezuela and Iran and essentially used both as examples of America's military might. At one point, he mused on whether he should annihilate Iran, as you all mentioned. And keep in mind, there were leaders from Iran in the audience. And he talked about how the U.S. has benefited from access to Venezuela's oil supply after a military intervention there that led to the capture of the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro. He even used the phrase, quote, "to the victor belong the spoils," referring to U.S. control of Venezuela's oil, though that goes pretty directly against U.S. foreign policy tradition to not explicitly connect military intervention with the acquisition of resources. Overall, it was a speech that highlighted how Trump sees his own role as a world leader. He described himself as someone who takes action when other countries don't and someone who isn't afraid to use force to protect America's interests. In the past, Trump has been really critical of the United Nations as a body and hasn't shied away from criticizing it. But this year he mostly stuck to his remarks, though he did accuse the U.N. of, quote, "imposing the far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected." And he was also critical of the ICC, the International Criminal Court. FADEL: Now, he also had back-to-back meetings with world leaders. How did those interactions play out? SHIVARAM: Yeah. It was a packed day yesterday. Trump met with leaders from Britain, Japan, Venezuela and the Gulf Nations. He signed a deal with Greenland and Denmark to put more U.S. bases in Greenland. And that was a win for Trump, who's been calling for the U.S. to, quote, "take" Greenland since he returned to the White House last year. This deal doesn't give the U.S. any ownership of the island, of course. But it does expand U.S. presence, which Trump wanted. He also met with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak about trying to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. But I will say the biggest news out of that meeting actually had to do with Iran. While taking questions, Trump revealed that a U.S. delegation had been meeting with Iranians for three hours yesterday. It's not clear how much progress was made during those talks, but it does mark a significant shift back to diplomacy after talks with Iran broke down over the summer over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump, of course, has been under enormous pressure to find a way to end this conflict with Iran. He says the election is not on his mind as he weighs what to do about this war that he and Israel started, but voters at home are increasingly unhappy. FADEL: Yeah. I mean, the meetings yesterday are coming as Trump is facing a lot of uphill battles on domestic issues - poor approval ratings, legal battles, a fight with the press corps. SHIVARAM: Right, and not to mention a major summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who's arriving in Washington tonight. But, yeah. On the domestic front, I mean, polling shows that Trump is doing even worse than before. A new poll from Reuters/Ipsos shows that Trump's approval rating sits at 32%. Other polling shows that Americans are souring on Trump's stance on foreign policy. And, of course, there are the other battles. Trump this week banned three news outlets from covering the White House. And now the administration is facing a legal action, and a judge is expected to weigh in on that lawsuit today. FADEL: That's NPR's Deepa Shivaram. Thank you, Deepa. SHIVARAM: Thank you. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: The president of Iran told the United Nations moments ago that his people have been, quote, "victims of terrorism" perpetrated by the United States. He spoke a day after President Trump addressed the United Nations, listing options for Iran ranging from total destruction to a peace deal sometime after the U.S. election. Trump also appealed for international cooperation before the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In a moment, we will discuss that speech and more with Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz. We begin with the news. LEILA FADEL, HOST: NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram joins us to discuss. Hi, Deepa. DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning. FADEL: Good morning. So first, just catch us up on what Trump said in his speech in New York. SHIVARAM: Yeah. I will say it was a pretty brief speech overall, as far as Trump's speeches go. He talked about U.S. actions in Venezuela and Iran and essentially used both as examples of America's military might. At one point, he mused on whether he should annihilate Iran, as you all mentioned. And keep in mind, there were leaders from Iran in the audience. And he talked about how the U.S. has benefited from access to Venezuela's oil supply after a military intervention there that led to the capture of the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro. He even used the phrase, quote, "to the victor belong the spoils," referring to U.S. control of Venezuela's oil, though that goes pretty directly against U.S. foreign policy tradition to not explicitly connect military intervention with the acquisition of resources. Overall, it was a speech that highlighted how Trump sees his own role as a world leader. He described himself as someone who takes action when other countries don't and someone who isn't afraid to use force to protect America's interests. In the past, Trump has been really critical of the United Nations as a body and hasn't shied away from criticizing it. But this year he mostly stuck to his remarks, though he did accuse the U.N. of, quote, "imposing the far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected." And he was also critical of the ICC, the International Criminal Court. FADEL: Now, he also had back-to-back meetings with world leaders. How did those interactions play out? SHIVARAM: Yeah. It was a packed day yesterday. Trump met with leaders from Britain, Japan, Venezuela and the Gulf Nations. He signed a deal with Greenland and Denmark to put more U.S. bases in Greenland. And that was a win for Trump, who's been calling for the U.S. to, quote, "take" Greenland since he returned to the White House last year. This deal doesn't give the U.S. any ownership of the island, of course. But it does expand U.S. presence, which Trump wanted. He also met with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak about trying to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. But I will say the biggest news out of that meeting actually had to do with Iran. While taking questions, Trump revealed that a U.S. delegation had been meeting with Iranians for three hours yesterday. It's not clear how much progress was made during those talks, but it does mark a significant shift back to diplomacy after talks with Iran broke down over the summer over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump, of course, has been under enormous pressure to find a way to end this conflict with Iran. He says the election is not on his mind as he weighs what to do about this war that he and Israel started, but voters at home are increasingly unhappy. FADEL: Yeah. I mean, the meetings yesterday are coming as Trump is facing a lot of uphill battles on domestic issues - poor approval ratings, legal battles, a fight with the press corps. SHIVARAM: Right, and not to mention a major summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who's arriving in Washington tonight. But, yeah. On the domestic front, I mean, polling shows that Trump is doing even worse than before. A new poll from Reuters/Ipsos shows that Trump's approval rating sits at 32%. Other polling shows that Americans are souring on Trump's stance on foreign policy. And, of course, there are the other battles. Trump this week banned three news outlets from covering the White House. And now the administration is facing a legal action, and a judge is expected to weigh in on that lawsuit today. FADEL: That's NPR's Deepa Shivaram. Thank you, Deepa. SHIVARAM: Thank you. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The president of Iran told the United Nations moments ago that his people have been, quote, "victims of terrorism" perpetrated by the United States. He spoke a day after President Trump addressed the United Nations, listing options for Iran ranging from total destruction to a peace deal sometime after the U.S. election. Trump also appealed for international cooperation before the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In a moment, we will discuss that speech and more with Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz. We begin with the news. LEILA FADEL, HOST: NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram joins us to discuss. Hi, Deepa. DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning. FADEL: Good morning. So first, just catch us up on what Trump said in his speech in New York. SHIVARAM: Yeah. I will say it was a pretty brief speech overall, as far as Trump's speeches go. He talked about U.S. actions in Venezuela and Iran and essentially used both as examples of America's military might. At one point, he mused on whether he should annihilate Iran, as you all mentioned. And keep in mind, there were leaders from Iran in the audience. And he talked about how the U.S. has benefited from access to Venezuela's oil supply after a military intervention there that led to the capture of the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro. He even used the phrase, quote, "to the victor belong the spoils," referring to U.S. control of Venezuela's oil, though that goes pretty directly against U.S. foreign policy tradition to not explicitly connect military intervention with the acquisition of resources. Overall, it was a speech that highlighted how Trump sees his own role as a world leader. He described himself as someone who takes action when other countries don't and someone who isn't afraid to use force to protect America's interests. In the past, Trump has been really critical of the United Nations as a body and hasn't shied away from criticizing it. But this year he mostly stuck to his remarks, though he did accuse the U.N. of, quote, "imposing the far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected." And he was also critical of the ICC, the International Criminal Court. FADEL: Now, he also had back-to-back meetings with world leaders. How did those interactions play out? SHIVARAM: Yeah. It was a packed day yesterday. Trump met with leaders from Britain, Japan, Venezuela and the Gulf Nations. He signed a deal with Greenland and Denmark to put more U.S. bases in Greenland. And that was a win for Trump, who's been calling for the U.S. to, quote, "take" Greenland since he returned to the White House last year. This deal doesn't give the U.S. any ownership of the island, of course. But it does expand U.S. presence, which Trump wanted. He also met with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak about trying to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. But I will say the biggest news out of that meeting actually had to do with Iran. While taking questions, Trump revealed that a U.S. delegation had been meeting with Iranians for three hours yesterday. It's not clear how much progress was made during those talks, but it does mark a significant shift back to diplomacy after talks with Iran broke down over the summer over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump, of course, has been under enormous pressure to find a way to end this conflict with Iran. He says the election is not on his mind as he weighs what to do about this war that he and Israel started, but voters at home are increasingly unhappy. FADEL: Yeah. I mean, the meetings yesterday are coming as Trump is facing a lot of uphill battles on domestic issues - poor approval ratings, legal battles, a fight with the press corps. SHIVARAM: Right, and not to mention a major summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who's arriving in Washington tonight. But, yeah. On the domestic front, I mean, polling shows that Trump is doing even worse than before. A new poll from Reuters/Ipsos shows that Trump's approval rating sits at 32%. Other polling shows that Americans are souring on Trump's stance on foreign policy. And, of course, there are the other battles. Trump this week banned three news outlets from covering the White House. And now the administration is facing a legal action, and a judge is expected to weigh in on that lawsuit today. FADEL: That's NPR's Deepa Shivaram. Thank you, Deepa. SHIVARAM: Thank you. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The president of Iran told the United Nations moments ago that his people have been, quote, "victims of terrorism" perpetrated by the United States. He spoke a day after President Trump addressed the United Nations, listing options for Iran ranging from total destruction to a peace deal sometime after the U.S. election. Trump also appealed for international cooperation be