A death blow to globalism? Trump’s UN speech sets up a U.S. pivot

President Donald Trump’s Tuesday speech to the United Nations General Assembly saw him excoriate the international body as ineffective and forecast Washington putting more distance between itself and the UN.

Trump accused the United Nations of leaving the job of peacekeeping to him, highlighting the many global conflicts that he resolved in the first seven months of his presidency. Among those, Trump managed to speedily resolve conflicts between India and Pakistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Rwanda and the Congo.

Trump: "Strongly worded letters" not enough

“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,” he lamented. “These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter.”

The president expressed frustration that the United Nations, under its current approach to global issues, was largely ineffective, saying the organization had “potential,” but that “it's not even coming close to living up to that potential for the most part.” He further chided the UN for its penchant for writing “strongly worded letters” in response to conflicts.

“It's empty words, and empty words don't solve war,” he stated.

Trump went on to address what he perceived to be the failures of “globalism” and its myriad political projects, namely the Palestinian cause and international migration.

Israel, Palestine and the "two-state" solution

In recent days, several European nations, including France and the United Kingdom, have officially recognized — at least theoretically — a State of Palestine, marking a pivot from decades-long policies of Western support for Israel. Trump himself insisted such a move would prolong the conflict and reward Hamas, while he and outside analysts have suggested those governments did so to quell internal unrest.

“Now, as if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state,” Trump said. “The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists for their atrocities… those who want peace should be united with one message: ‘release the hostages.’”

Several nations met in New York ahead of the Tuesday event as part of a summit to reaffirm support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Speaking on the “Real America’s Voice” Network this week, the Heritage Foundation’s Steve Yates echoed that sentiment and suggested that the generic nature of the recognition resolutions betrayed a lack of substance.

“If this was a matter of principle and strategy and substance, then there would be a way to define what territory [we are] talking about. How will this sovereignty be enforced?” he asked. “Do they have a common currency? What is the definition of the demographic mix of this land? There are a whole host of things that would be questions.”

Almost every nation on Earth, except for the U.S., Israel, and a handful of their allies, recognize Palestine. But recognition as to what territory is part of Palestine and what groups constitute the legitimate government vary dramatically. Yates, like Trump, opined that the activity of the global community, including by the UN, would lead to little in the way of progress on the issue.

“I think doing nothing is what a lot of these governments do best. They will bloviate, and news cycles will move forward, and they will hope people don't remind them over and over and over,” he said.” And if you have a majority in your politics and your media that have an ideological bent that supported this move anyway, they're not going to pick at that scab. But, you know, I do hope that there is some recognition of reality that this is unlikely to actually work and do much good.”

“This is kind of a public relations exercise that will rattle around the UN General Assembly, and it's not really going to change facts on the ground,” he went on.

Immigration's attendant problems frustrate EU citizens 

Yates specifically linked some of the Western recognitions of Palestinian statehood to ongoing political unrest in those countries. Many Western nations, especially France and the United Kingdom, have suffered from political turmoil in recent years as native populations express frustration with mass immigration.

“This is, I think, an appeal to the mob in their own countries. More than it's about substance on the ground,” Yates added. “This will not help a single Gazan, won't feed anyone. Won't move towards peace. This is about managing the disruptive and dangerous politics in their own countries.”

The French government collapsed earlier this month, forcing President Emmanuel Macron to appoint his fifth prime minister in two years. In the UK, moreover, the Labour government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer has witnessed a historic fall in approval ratings. Anti-immigration Britons have clashed with Muslim immigrants in recent years, especially amid the Gaza conflict.

Trump himself did not directly link immigration to the rise in recognition of Palestinian statehood among Western countries, but did link the “globalist agenda” to mass immigration during his speech. Speaking on his efforts to reunite immigrant children with their parents, he said that “[a]ny system that results in the mass trafficking of children is inherently evil.”

“Yet that is exactly what the globalist migration agenda has done, and it's what it's all about in America. Those days, as you know, are over. The Trump administration is working, and we are continuing to work to track down the villains that are causing this problem,” Trump continued. “And also, as I said, to get back the 30,000 we've already returned now, I think we're going to have another, we're going to find a lot.”

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.