US President Donald Trump addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at UN headquarters.Photo:VCG

US President Donald Trump slammed the United Nations on Tuesday for failing to support American-led peace efforts, but then reassured UN chief Antonio Guterres that the US "100%" backs the world body, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

In a speech that meandered from complaints about losing out on a contract to renovate the headquarters to recounting what he saw as his foreign policy successes, the president painted a picture of the UN as an outdated, ineffective organization and said he's worked to end "seven wars" without any help, the Politico reported.

"What is the purpose of the United Nations?" Trump asked the gathering of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.

"All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It's empty words, and empty words don't solve war. The only thing that solves war and wars is action," he said, per Reuters.

Notably, Trump used a broken escalator and his inoperable teleprompter to underscore his deeper complaints about the UN, the report by The New York Times said. "These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter," he said.

"I don't mind making this speech without a teleprompter because the teleprompter is not working. I feel very happy to be up here with you nevertheless, and that way, you speak more from the heart. I can only say that whoever's operating this teleprompter is in big trouble," Trump said during the address, per CNN.

According to a report by AP News, Stephane Dujarric, the UN spokesman, said a videographer from the US delegation who ran ahead of him triggered the stop mechanism at the top of the escalator. 

However, after his speech, Trump met with UN Secretary-General Guterres for the first time since returning to office in January. "Our country is behind the United Nations 100%," Trump told Guterres. "I may disagree with it sometimes, but I am so behind it, because I think the potential for peace with this institution is so great," the report by Reuters noted.

Guterres told him the UN was "entirely at your disposal to be able to work together for a just peace," the report said.

Trump also argued for lower levels of global migration and urged a turn away from climate change policies on Tuesday in the speech that leveled scathing criticism of world leaders, according to another report by Reuters. As reported by The New York Times, the 56-miniute address extended nearly four times as long as his allotted time limit.

Much of his speech was dominated by two of his biggest grievances: immigration and climate change, per Reuters. Trump offered his US immigration crackdown as a case study for what other world leaders should do to curb mass migration that he says is altering the fabric of nations, the report said. 

Trump also scoffed at past predictions warning of global disaster from climate change and urged other nations to scrap green energy initiatives intended to reduce carbon output, according to the report by CNN.

The report by AP News noted that the address was the latest reminder for US allies and foes that the US— after a four-year interim under the more internationalist President Joe Biden — has returned to an unapologetically "America First" posture with an antagonistic view toward the United Nations. 

Global Times