In wide-ranging UN speech, Trump threatens to ‘annihilate’ Iran without deal

President Donald Trump warned Sept. 22 that the U.S. could “annihilate” Iran if its regime refuses to reach an agreement with Washington, delivering the threat during a wide-ranging UN address that also covered U.S. power in the Western Hemisphere, Christian persecution, immigration, and artificial intelligence (AI). 

Addressing world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump said he is poised to make a “big decision” soon on the war with Iran, which is now approaching its eighth month. 

“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world?” Trump said. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?” 

He added that he believes a deal will be made “right after” the Nov. 3 midterm elections, arguing that Tehran is delaying negotiations to see whether Republicans retain control of Congress.

“What they don’t realize is that I’m not running,” Trump said. “The Republican Party is running, and I’ll be helping them. But I am not running.”

Trump said the midterm elections would not influence his decision on Iran and declared that the “only thing” on his mind is ensuring that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.” He called on other nations to enforce the country’s “complete economic isolation” until it ends attacks on commercial shipping, abandons its nuclear ambitions, and stops supporting terrorism. 

Trump devoted much of his roughly 37-minute address to defending the war against Iran. He said U.S. military operations had destroyed Iran’s naval and air forces, air defenses, and much of its missile and drone manufacturing capability. 

During the speech, Trump again touted his statement that he helped settle eight wars, citing agreements or ceasefires involving Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

He added that the U.S. is also working closely with Russia and Ukraine to end their war, which he said is killing thousands of people every month. 

“We will get that one done,” Trump said. “It’s going to happen, I think, more quickly than people understand.”

He also praised First Lady Melania Trump for helping return displaced Ukrainian and Russian children to their families. Trump said she had become the only first lady to preside over a UN Security Council meeting and noted that she was hosting a gathering of her “Fostering the Future Together” initiative during the General Assembly.

Venezuela and US power in the Western Hemisphere

Turning to the Americas, Trump cited the U.S. military operation that captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro as proof that his administration would not allow hostile governments to threaten U.S. interests in the region.

“Our actions in Venezuela are proof that the United States will no longer permit threats to America to gain a foothold anywhere in the Western Hemisphere,” he said, “and if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States.” 

Trump also touted a recent agreement covering 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil, which he said would benefit the U.S. and Venezuela while reducing global energy prices. 

The U.S. is “reasserting American power, including American military power,” Trump said, wherever he considers it “necessary in our region and around the world to create a safer future for all of us.” 

He pointed to his designation of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which he described as the “ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.” Their members, he added, should be “killed, exiled, or detained as enemy combatants without the possibility of release, which is what we’re doing.”

Trump also called Mexico the “epicenter of cartel violence” and urged its government to “reclaim control of its soil,” while saying the U.S. maintains a “very good relationship” with Mexican officials.

Trump predicts Cuba’s government will fall soon

The President also said his administration is seeking a “fundamental change” in Cuba, describing the communist country as a failing state under unprecedented pressure. 

“It's an absolutely failed state,” Trump said of Cuba. “It's failing like never before, and it will fall.”

According to Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is “deep into” negotiations with the Cuban government. Trump also accused Cuba of cultivating ties with American left-wing “radicals and communist networks,” including the Communist Party USA, Antifa, and the Democratic Socialists of America.

The New York Post reported that members of Cuba’s delegation walked out during that portion of the address.

US to establish two major bases in Greenland 

Trump also touted a new security agreement with Greenland and Denmark, saying it gives the U.S. “the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent, and also Europe and other places.”

>> Trump secures ‘permanent’ military deal with Greenland <<

The agreement, which grants the U.S. functional military control in the semiautonomous Danish territory, was signed at a trilateral meeting later Sept. 22.

“No U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland anymore or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval,” Trump said.

The U.S. will also begin developing two major military bases in Greenland under the agreement, which Trump said would protect North America and Europe while strengthening NATO. 

Trump touts economy, border, and falling crime 

Trump began the speech by declaring that “America is back” because “our country is stronger today than ever before.” He said the nation’s economy is “the envy of the world,” the military “the most powerful on earth,” and its technology “second to none.” 

He said the U.S. had created more than 1 million private-sector jobs, reached record low poverty rates, increased household income, and secured trillions of dollars in new investment commitments.

“We inherited a dark age of America from the previous administration, and we turned it into the golden age of America,” Trump said.

>> US child poverty rate falls to historic low in 2025, Census Bureau reports <<

Trump credited his administration’s border policies with stopping illegal entries and said the country had gone from having “the worst and most dangerous border on earth” to “the most secure border in American history.”

He also said the U.S. recorded the largest drop in violent crime on record and its lowest murder rate since 1900. Trump specifically cited falling crime in Memphis, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C., following federal interventions.

UN reform and International Criminal Court 

Trump said his administration had helped cut the UN’s 2026 budget by 15% and eliminate more than 4,000 positions. He argued that the organization has “great potential” but must stop advancing what he called “the far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats.”

The President also denounced proposals for international taxes and urged countries belonging to the International Criminal Court to withdraw. He called the court an “out-of-control institution” and said the U.S. would not allow American service members to face investigations or what he described as “show trials” before a tribunal that lacks jurisdiction over the country.

“I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately,” Trump said.

>> Rubio: Why the Trump administration will ‘dismantle’ the ICC <<

Christian persecution, gender ideology, and immigration 

Trump accused the UN’s leading human-rights bodies of criticizing the U.S. for enforcing its immigration laws and restricting gender “transition” procedures for children while paying insufficient attention to Christian persecution. 

“The craven hypocrites of the Human Rights Council have little to say about the persecution of Christians,” Trump said. “Christians are being persecuted all over the world. It’s not even believable.”

Trump also criticized UNESCO, arguing that the UN agency claims to protect cultural heritage while other international officials promote mass migration that undermines countries’ cultures and national identities.

“There is no human right to illegal immigration, but there is a right to remain a sovereign nation,” he said. “We want to remain a sovereign nation, and so should you.”

Trump proposes rebranding AI as ‘superintelligence,’ defends efforts to increase AI

Trump closed the policy-heavy portion of his address by rejecting any “globalist scheme” to regulate AI. He proposed replacing “artificial intelligence” with the term “superintelligence,” arguing that calling the technology artificial makes it sound “fake.” 

The President then dismissed those raising concerns about AI, a group that includes several Republican lawmakers and technology executives who have warned in recent weeks about the technology’s rapid development and called for more safeguards.

“These are the same people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster,” Trump said.

>> Trump supports Flock cameras, dismisses calls for additional AI safeguards <<

He reiterated his view that winning the race for AI superiority is essential to maintaining U.S. global dominance.

“That’s the group that wins, and we’re leading now over China by a lot, and everyone else, and we’re going to keep it that way,” he said. “We’re going to keep it very, very straight and very strong. I’m not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution.”

He added that his administration would lead “safely and responsibly” and vowed to be “very careful,” saying federal law enforcement agencies would monitor the industry and “rein things in” if necessary. At the same time, Trump said the U.S. would not restrict a technology that he said could have a greater effect on civilization than the internet.

“We will only encourage superintelligence,” he said. “We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in.”

The President concluded his address by invoking George Washington’s decision to have the Declaration of Independence read to American troops in New York in 1776 as a British invasion fleet approached.

“Those first Americans knew that it is not enough merely to believe in great principles,” Trump said. “We must also have the will and the courage and the strength to defend them.”

“If we go forward strong and united against the enemies of all humanity, if we reject the voices who would have us give in to fear and doubt, if we refuse to shrink from our duties to our people,” he concluded, “then together through bold action, we will make this world far safer and a far better place.”