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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Patrick Wintourin New York

Trump’s UN speech makes it clear: the world can no longer look to the US for strong leadership

a man speaking in front of a microphone
Donald Trump delivers his speech to the 80th session of the UN general assembly at UN headquarters in New York on 23 September 2025. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Such is the gravitational pull cast by Donald Trump and the US economy that the politics of the other 192 countries that make up the United Nations are rapidly being reduced to one long discussion about how to relate to and challenge this ever darker and weirder presidency.

Before Trump’s extraordinary 58-minute speech on the supposed threats posed by open borders, sharia law, the UN’s failings and the “climate hoax”, the supporters of the UN’s values already knew they faced a challenge. Now they realise the degree to which the world’s superpower seems bent on the destruction of everything they believe.

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