Key events
In another tangent, Trump touted his move to federalize the DC police and deploy the National Guard. “My people have done a fantastic job,” he said. “Washington DC is now a totally safe city again, and I welcome you to come. In fact, we’ll have dinner together at a local restaurant, and we’ll be able to walk. We don’t have to go by an armor plated vehicle.”
In a speech that has gone well beyond his allotted time, the president said that he’s “here to tell the truth”.
“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m in New York City,” he added.
‘Your countries are going to hell’: Trump scolds migration throughout Europe
The president has launched into a fairly lengthy tirade on rates of immigration throughout Europe. He urges allies to learn from his work in America: “We’ve taken bold action to swiftly shut down uncontrolled migration. Once we started detaining and deporting everyone who crossed the border and removing illegal aliens from the United States. They simply stopped coming.”
Trump calls the rate of immigration throughout Europe as part of the “globalist migration agenda”.
He issued a stern and stunning warning to the countries he sees as overrun by immigrants. “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now,” he said. “Your countries are going to hell.”
Trump threatens ‘powerful tariffs’ if Russia is ‘not ready to end the war’ in Ukraine
The president has said that “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.”
But he scolded European allies, and said that they would “have to join” the US by “adopting the exact same measures”.
He added:
You’re much closer to the city. We have an ocean in between. You’re right there, and Europe has to step it up. They can’t be doing what they’re doing. They’re buying oil and gas from Russia.
Trump pushes for Hamas to release hostages, without mentioning humanitarian crisis in Gaza
The president said that “Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace” since the October 7 attack.
While Trump briefly acknowledged that “we have to stop the war in Gaza immediately”, he didn’t mention the worsening humanitarian crisis. “We’ve got to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back. We don’t want two and four,” Trump said.
‘It’s empty words’: Trump lambasts UN for lack of foreign policy help
The president, who hasn’t yet acknowledged the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, has begun criticizing the organization for not helping Trump with any of his foreign policy work.
Trump repeated his misleading claim that he’s “ended seven wars” since he returned to office. “The UN has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it,” the president said. “All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war. The only thing that solves war and wars is action.”
The president then went on a tangent, denigrating the renovation of the United Nations complex.
Donald Trump has opened his speech with a ‘greatest hits’ of his first eight months back in office. He’s rattled off a number of reasons why he thinks America is in its “golden age”.
He’s also spent a chunk of his address talking about his crackdown on immigration in his second term:
I want to thank the country of El Salvador for the successful and professional job they’ve done in receiving and jailing so many criminals that entered our country, and it was under the previous administration that the number became record setting, and they’re all being taken out.
Trump begins speech by noting that teleprompter is not working. “I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble,” he jokes.
Donald Trump begins address to UN general assembly
Donald Trump has started his address to the UN general assembly. He is following Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula says it’s ‘regrettable’ that Palestinian president is unable to attend general assembly
President Lula of Brazil just said that it was “regrettable” that Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was unable to occupy the Palestinian bench at the general debate today. This comes after the state department announced that it was denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority on national security grounds.
Lula also called out the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, noting that “hunger is used as a weapon of war” and said that “the Palestinian people are at risk of disappearing”.
Brazil’s president is first world leader to speak at UN general assembly
Before Donald Trump takes the podium, we’re hearing from Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula has already called out the “consequences” of authoritarianism in his own country. He notes that his predecessor, Jair Bolsanaro, was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting to stay in power illegally.
Notably, Bolsanoro is an ally of Donald Trump, and the president has critcized and punished Brazil with several additional sanctions for prosecuting its former leader.
Donald Trump and the first lady arrive at UN general assembly
The president and first lady have arrived at the United Nations headquarters ahead of his address to the general assembly.
Top Congressional Democrats to meet with Trump on Thursday – report
Donald Trump will meet with Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, and House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, on Thursday 25 September, according to Politico.
On Monday, reports confirmed the president had agreed to meet with the top Democrats, after they sent a letter to Trump, asking to meet and discuss the stopgap funding bills that stalled in Congress last week. Punchbowl News first reported that meeting was happening, but didn’t list a date. It’s currently unclear if Republican leadership will be present at the sitdown, according to Politico.
Government funding expires at the end of this month, and with lawmakers in their districts on recess this week, a shutdown is looming.
The White House, however, still lays blame for a possible government shutdown squarely at the feet of Democrats, and brands their push for various health care provisions as part of a short-term funding extension as unreasonable.
“If the government is shut down, it’s only going to it will be the fault of the Democrats, and it will only hurt the most vulnerable in our country,” said press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a briefing this week.
UN secretary general opens general debate
Yohannes Lowe
A meeting of world leaders at the UN’s general assembly in New York has officially begun, with the body’s secretary general, António Guterres, now opening its 80th general debate.
“Eighty years ago, in a world scorched by war, leaders made a choice, cooperation over chaos, law over lawlessness, peace over conflict, and that choice gave birth to the United Nations, not as a dream for perfection, but as a practical strategy for survival of humanity,” Guterres said.
“Eighty years on, we confront again the question our founders faced, only more urgent more intertwined more unforgiving,” he said.
Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be the first world leader to speak. Trump will follow him at about 9:50am EST.
Top secret service agent says that intercepted threat could have ‘shut down’ cellular network throughout New York
In a video message, Matt McCool, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service New York field office, said that the devices recovered allow “anonymous, encrypted communications between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises”. He added that this would enable criminal organizations to operate undetected, and had the potential to “disable mobile phone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City”.
McCool added that the Secret Service would “continue to run down all leads until we fully understand the intent of the operation and identify those responsible”.
Rubio calls UN ‘feckless’ ahead of Trump’s address to general assembly,
In an interview with Fox & Friends a short while ago, secretary of state Marco Rubio telegraphed the president’s speech at the general assembly today, while taking jabs at the organization at large. “It’s just a place where once a year a bunch of people meet and give speeches and write out a bunch of letters and statements but not a lot of good, important action is happening,” he said. “I think it’s emblematic of how feckless the UN has become as an organization.”
Rubio added that he thinks the president will “challenge the UN to find its meaning and its purpose and its utility as an organization because it doesn’t seem to be doing the job”.