Power play at the UNGA as Trump's fiery return dominates divided assembly

A power play unfolded at the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) in New York, where world leaders sparred over climate, technology, conflict, and the very role of multilateralism.

At the center of the storm was US President Donald Trump, returning to the global stage with a fiery speech that discredited past administrations, denounced climate change discourse as 'the world’s biggest con', and accused the UN itself of corruption.

Trump dismissed global climate efforts as a scam that had morphed into a tool for controlling economies ridiculing Europe’s energy crisis as evidence of what he called 'suicidal green policies.'

Trump argued that the climate conversation has been hijacked and that what was supposed to be about science, is now about control citing Europe as one of the regions paying the price and the West 'being destroyed by its own delusions'.

“It used to be global cooling back in the 1920s and the 1930s. They said global cooling will kill the world. We have to do something. Then they said global warming will kill the world. But then it started getting cooler,” Trump said.

“So now they could just call it climate change, because that way they can't miss. It's climate change. Because if it goes higher or lower, whatever happens, there's climate change. It's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” he roared.

But some world leaders at UNGA stated that sentiments on climate change risks undermining years of multilateral negotiations.

Trump's stance on climate change could also emboldening other climate-skeptic governments to stall or reverse commitments.

For developing nations already facing climate disasters, Trump’s rejection of global science-driven consensus could threaten climate financing and adaptation support.

The Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke in a different vein on rallying nations behind COP30, which Brazil will host next year.

“All over the world, anti-democratic forces are trying to subjugate institutions and stifle freedoms. They adore violence, glorify ignorance, act as physical and digital militias and restrict the press,” said Lula.

On security, Trump boasted about Operation Midnight Hammer, a U.S. bombing campaign that he claimed obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities.

He called Iran 'the world’s number one sponsor of terror' and vowed it would never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

“No other country could have done what we did. We used our strength to stop the most dangerous threat warning that “unilateralism undermines global peace more than any centrifuge ever could to mankind,” he said.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict once again dominated debate. Trump warned against recognition of a Palestinian state, calling it a reward for Hamas.

Yet several nations, including France, endorsed Palestine’s right to self-rule. Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo went further, announcing that his country would deploy peacekeepers to Gaza.

“Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace. Now, as if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state,” said Trump.

“The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities. This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including October 7th, even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire,” he added.

He also took the podium ranting over corruption at UN reviving an old grievance when he recalled putting a $500 million bid to renovate the UN headquarters in New York but lost it to what he called a corrupt, bloated project.

“They spent over $5 billion on terrazzo floors instead of the marble I promised. A corrupt deal, a terrible building. And that’s what the UN has become — a place of escalators that don’t work, teleprompters that fail, and leaders who write letters but never solve wars,” he said.

Trump referenced to an incident where he and the first lady Melania Trump had to walk up an escalator after it failed midway to the venue.

He also boasted US ending seven wars without the help of the UN.

"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 finalizing the deal."

"All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that, on the way up, stopped right in the middle. If the First Lady wasn't in great shape, she would have fallen. But she's in great shape. We're both in good shape. We both stood. And then a teleprompter that didn't work," he ranted. 

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung offered a historic concession the absorption of some North Korean citizens under humanitarian programs.

He told the international community that he will seek peaceful coexistence and shared growth with North Korea. He also welcomed possible normalization of ties between the United State

He also led a coalition of leaders in calling for equitable access to Artificial Intelligence arguing that AI cannot become the property of the few and that it must be a public good, a tool for progress, not domination.

Trump, for his part, tied AI to his push for biological weapons verification, calling for “an AI system the world can trust” to enforce the Biological Weapons Convention.

But he warned: “AI can be the greatest blessing or the greatest danger. Let’s make sure it’s not the latter.”

Biological warfare emerged as a rare point of convergence. Trump called past pandemic-related experiments “reckless and devastating,” urging nations to halt dangerous pathogen research.

“One mistake can wipe out humanity. This cannot continue,” he said.

Several European leaders echoed the warning. France’s President Emmanuel Macron added: “If AI is our next frontier, then biological risk is our next catastrophe. Both require international rules, not national experiments.”

As the debates unfolded, the UN itself became a target. Trump accused the organisation of “funding invasions” by aiding migrants, saying: “The UN is supposed to stop invasions, not finance them.”

"When your prisons are filled with so-called asylum seekers who repaid kindness  with crime...it's time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now. I'm really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell," he warned.

He accused the UN of not only not solving the problems but also creating new problems rallying nations to rejected uncontrolled migration.

“Your countries are being ruined. The United Nations is funding an assault on Western countries and their borders. In 2024, the U.N. budgeted $372 million in cash assistance to support an estimated 624,000 migrants journeying into the United States,” Trump stated.

“The U.N. is supporting people that are illegally coming into the United States, and then we have to get them out. The U.N. also provided food, shelter, transportation, and debit cards to illegal aliens on the way to infiltrate our southern border.”

He went on: Millions of people came through that southern border just a year ago. 25 million altogether over the four years and now we have it stopped, totally stopped. 

Trump stated that US rejects the idea that mass numbers of people from foreign lands  to “trample our borders, violate our sovereignty, cause unmitigated crime, and deplete our social safety net.”

 Trump also changed tune on war between Russia and Ukraine. President said Kyiv can "win all of Ukraine back in its original form", marking a major shift in his position on the war with Russia.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said Ukraine could get back "the original borders from where this war started" with the support of Europe and Nato.

He blasted NATO countries for enhancing war between Russia and Ukraine.

"China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil. But inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products. They're funding the war against themselves," saifd Trump.

"In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs, which would stop the bloodshed," he added.

Trump particularly singled out European nations to step up and stop enabling Russia economy by buying oil and gas.

"All of you are gathered here right now, you would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures. They can't be doing what they're doing. They're buying oil and gas from Russia while they're fighting Russia," Trump said.