President Donald Trump delivered remarks before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in New York City, highlighting the United States’ efforts to stop Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, as well as his attempt to change the name of artificial intelligence.
While top U.N. officials urged for peace, Trump made the case for why the war with Iran was necessary.
“They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more,” the president said. “From the first day I entered the political arena, I have been unwavering. I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
More than seven months into the conflict with Iran, he said he had a big question before him.
Trump wondered if he should strike a deal with Iran that would allow them to rebuild into a better country, or should he “annihilate the Islamic Republic” and never give them a chance to kill people again.
“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” he said. “But, I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.”
The remarks come as relations between the United States and many of its European allies are strained after they rejected Trump’s request to aid in the war.
Trump talks Gaza and Iran
Trump spoke about his efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the excursion in Venezuela earlier this year and the ongoing war with Iran.
“One year ago, when I addressed the great leaders in this hall, the war in Gaza was still raging brutally,” Trump said. “The hostages were still deep in Hamas tunnels, and there was no end in sight.”
“But here, on the sidelines of the General Assembly, we took the first steps,” he continued. “It changed everything. A few weeks later, we ended the war in Gaza, saving untold thousands of lives. We also brought home all remaining hostages, both living and dead.”
U.N. Secretary-General gives farewell remarks
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres delivered his final address on Tuesday, detailing the issues the world faces and urging leaders to work together. He argued that the “fault-lines in our world are widening” and said the future will depend on how leaders step up on several key issues, including war and peace, wealth and inequality, climate chaos and artificial intelligence.
Guterres, who will step down in December after serving since 2017, called on leading nations to end global conflicts. Without naming Iran or Trump specifically, he said the conflicts in the Middle East were “cascading,” saying “enough is enough.”
While Guterres called on the leaders to improve the world going forward through diplomacy and peace, Trump used his time to explain why he believes it was necessary to intervene to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Trump said that when he retook office in January 2025, he immediately began negotiations with Iran, offering full economic cooperation if they gave up their nuclear program, but he said Iran refused. He said after military operations in the summer of 2025, he again offered Iran an opportunity to negotiate, which they refused.
The president has often criticized allied countries for not helping with the Iran military operation, which started in late February this year. He shared Tuesday that he hopes European leaders know Iran had made a missile capable of hitting Europe.
Trump argued that many presidents before him knew how much of a threat Iran would be but they chose to ignore it.
“After giving Iran every chance for a deal, I took action to ensure that neither the United States nor any nation would ever have to face such a nightmare,” he said.
Trump thanked the United Nations Security Council for passing a resolution condemning Iran’s “despicable terrorist attacks” on shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz following the initial attacks. Still, he called on the global leaders to be “equally united in maintaining pressure” on Iran.
With Trump facing pressure from Americans over continued high gas prices and increased disapproval over the war, Republicans are concerned the conflict will impact the 2026 midterm elections. The president said Tuesday that he thinks Iran is waiting to strike a deal until after the November elections.
U.S. cuts to the U.N. — and changes to AI
Throughout both of his terms, Trump has maintained an “America First” mentality when it comes to the United Nations.
During his first term, he worked through the U.N. Security Council to enact heavy sanctions on Iran, but also tried to scale back funding to agencies like the U.N. Population Fund. Trump also pulled the U.S. out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Paris Climate Accord.
Upon taking office for the second time, he also pulled the U.S. out of the U.N. Human Rights Council, as well as 31 other U.N entities as part of his administration’s larger efforts to downsize government spending.
The U.S. had accumulated billions in unpaid debts to the U.N., which put the country at risk of losing voting privileges in the U.N. body. The administration recently paid $725 million to cover 2025 dues to maintain its standing with the U.N., Reuters reported earlier this month.
During his remarks Tuesday, Trump said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was a “great leader” and argued that the U.N. was “growing stronger than ever before.”
He said that U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz has worked with many countries in the room to implement “the most sweeping U.N. reforms in history.”
“We cut the U.N. budget for the first time ever, slashing it by 15% in 2026, and eliminating more than 4,000 positions from the U.N. bureaucracy,” Trump said.
“The United Nations has great, great potential, I’ve said that for many years, but it must stop imposing the far left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected,” he continued.
Trump also went on to talk about the U.S. efforts to dominate in the emerging artificial intelligence sector. He said that the United States will “totally reject” any attempts to make artificial intelligence into a “globalist scheme” for control.
The United States is in a race with China to maintain a lead in artificial intelligence development. During his remarks Tuesday, Trump said he was proposing a name change for AI.
He said artificial intelligence was being spoken of “so much now” and should “hereafter officially be called super intelligence.” Trump said the word “artificial” makes the intelligence sound “fake.”
“It makes it sound fake, and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing. We have to be careful,” he said. “In fact, it is exactly the opposite of what it purports.”
“From this point forward, all of the United States’ documents — and hopefully the world’s — will be changed to use the much more accurate term ‘super’ as opposed to artificial,” Trump continued. “So, it’s super intelligence. In other words, welcome to the new world of super intelligence — S.I.”
Trump went on to say that the country or group that wins the “super intelligence” race is the group that “wins.” He said the U.S. is leading “by a lot” over China and “everyone else” and he wants to keep it that way.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will be making a state visit to Washington, D.C., starting Wednesday, where he will meet with Trump about the two countries’ efforts to dominate the AI world.
While Trump is set to make the unusual move to meet Xi at the airport, experts don’t expect the two to make some sort of large compromise about the emerging technology, ABC News reported.