With the world watching from the UN General Assembly, US President Donald Trump cast the ongoing war with Iran as a pre-emptive strike to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon — and issued a stark warning that he could “annihilate the Islamic Republic” if diplomacy fails to end the fighting.
Mr Trump told delegates he expects his administration to secure a peace agreement with Iran after the 3 November US midterm elections, while urging other countries to help the United States tighten the economic screws on Tehran as leverage to bring it to the negotiating table.
“I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?” Mr Trump said. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”
He continued: “Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election.”
Trump says he will make Iran deal after US midterms
The address served as Mr Trump’s latest attempt to justify the war with Iran. He has offered shifting rationales since February’s US-Israeli strikes, pointing at different times to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, its backing of regional proxy forces and the possibility of regime change.
Iran has consistently denied seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Outside UN headquarters, dozens of demonstrators opposed to the Iranian government assembled, with some holding signs demanding freedom and democracy and condemning dictatorship.
“I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election because it doesn’t make sense for them not to. They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election,” Mr Trump said during a speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
Beyond Iran, Mr Trump used the UN stage to take aim at the organisation itself, arguing that his administration has acted to prevent the UN and other international bodies from infringing on US sovereignty or promoting what it views as a left-wing agenda.
He also called for all members of the International Criminal Court to resign.
Mr Trump last year caused a stir with a combative speech at the UN, saying that other countries were “going to hell” for, among other things, climate policy and mass migration.
Donald Trump walks on stage to speak during the 81st session of the United Nations
After delivering his remarks, Mr Trump is scheduled to sit down with no fewer than 11 world leaders, in bilateral meetings and group formats.
Later on, Mr Trump will meet with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and the representatives of the Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
In the evening, he may meet dozens more leaders, albeit briefly, during a leaders’ reception.
The packed slate of sessions underscores how heavily the US president has leaned into foreign policy in his second term — a period in which he has launched multiple wars, challenged long-standing alliances, threatened allies with invasion and tried to broker well over a dozen conflicts, with uneven results.
The US-Israeli war against Iran has been among the most far-reaching, pushing fuel prices higher around the world, weighing on Mr Trump’s approval ratings and complicating the political landscape for Republicans heading into the 3 November congressional midterm election.
Yesterday, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Mr Trump’s approval rating falling to an all-time low of 32%, as his fellow Republicans soured on his handling of the cost of living crisis.
One of the most closely watched engagements is the seven-way meeting with Gulf leaders, many of whom are increasingly alarmed by recent advances by the Houthis, Iran-backed militants who have seized broad areas of Yemen, attacked US ally Saudi Arabia and threatened shipping through the strategic Bab el-Mandab Strait.
RTÉ’s Washington correspondent Jackie Fox reports on President Trump’s speech at the UN
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Political allies and opponents will also be watching closely as Mr Trump holds his first-ever meeting with Venezuela’s Rodriguez, who came to power with the Trump administration’s backing after US forces seized President Nicolas Maduro in January and transported him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
Supporters of Mr Trump say Washington is working with Ms Rodriguez on plans to open Venezuela’s oil industry to US investment. Democrats and some Republicans, however, argue the administration has not applied enough pressure to secure new elections in the South American country.
When he sits down with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland, its overseas territory, Mr Trump is expected to sign an agreement aimed at expanding the US military footprint on the island while constraining the presence of geopolitical rivals.
Danish and Greenland officials hope the accord will finally close the chapter on Mr Trump’s earlier remarks suggesting he might seize Greenland by force.
