Trump Blasts UN for Not Solving Wars, Ignores Repeated US Vetoes on Ceasefire

In an appearance before the United Nations on Tuesday, President Donald Trump launched into a barrage of complaints about the international body, bemoaning it as ineffective at stopping wars and conflicts around the world — despite his own administration’s role in said conflicts, particularly in Gaza.

Trump questioned why the UN even existed, whining that it didn’t participate in efforts by his administration to quell international conflicts.

“I realized that the United Nations wasn’t there for us. I thought of it really after the fact…that being the case, what is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump said during his speech.

Generally, the UN doesn’t reach out to nations unilaterally but rather responds to requests from member states within its own doors.

Trump continued to rattle off complaints, stating that the UN is failing to live up to its “tremendous potential.”

“For the most part, at least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter,” Trump said. “It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.”

Trump’s speech included his own personal feelings about the international body; at one point, he griped about how the UN rejected his bid to renovate its headquarters. He also blasted countries for implementing immigration policies that differ from the racist and inhumane policies he’s enacted in the U.S.

“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell,” he said.

Trump has frequently claimed to have resolved around six wars (although the number seems to shift with each telling). Analysts have suggested that Trump has overstated his importance in ending many of these conflicts, likely to bolster his chances of being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

For example, Trump has claimed that he resolved the conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, although the countries have a lot to negotiate before the conflict is settled. Trump also took credit for ending recent hostilities between Pakistan and India, with the latter country stating he played no actual role in the end of the conflict. Meanwhile, a border deal he brokered between Cambodia and Thailand appears to be on thin ice.

Notably, Trump has been unable to broker peace deals in two major conflicts —the war between Russia and Ukraine (which he had campaigned on solving within a single day), and Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

In regards to the latter conflict, Trump’s criticism of the UN is remarkable, given how consistently his administration has championed the genocide and obstructed efforts to broker a ceasefire deal. Just last week, the U.S. was the only country to vote against a Security Council measure calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

It was the sixth time since October 7, 2023, that the U.S. has vetoed a ceasefire in Gaza, with vetoes cast during both the Biden and Trump administrations.

Trump also claimed in his speech that Hamas was acting as a barrier to a ceasefire deal. In fact, Hamas approved a prior ceasefire deal authored by the U.S. and Israel in August, but Israel has yet to respond to that action. Just last month, Israel bombed Hamas’s delegation in Doha, Qatar, as it was taking part in a review of the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal.

Other world leaders have criticized the U.S. for sponsoring Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians, noting that the Trump administration has continued to send weapons to Israel as it escalates its genocide.

“There is one who can do something, and that is the American president,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a recent interview. “And why can he do it more than us? Because we do not supply weapons that allow us to wage war in Gaza […]. The United States of America does.”