US President Donald Trump delivers his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on September on Tuesday. (Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP)
The biggest deadpan line came when he hinted that no one was more qualified for the next Nobel Peace Prize than he was. Casting himself as a peacemaker like no other, he claimed he had “ended seven unendable wars” so far in his second term and added, “Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each of these achievements.”
In what could be the biggest embarrassment to United States’ diplomacy since the United Nations was set up in 1945, President Donald Trump provided narcissistic entertainment—more like a standup comedian than a world leader—when he addressed the world body’s 80th session on Tuesday.
“I,” “my,” and “me” were the threads of his speech that generated more snickering than applause. He began by complaining about the UN escalator that stopped as he and his wife—whom he described as being in “good shape”—stepped onto it, and then about the teleprompter that went blank. He warned that those responsible would be in trouble before launching into a speech replete with UN-bashing, xenophobia, and a sprinkle of Islamophobia.
The biggest deadpan line came when he hinted that no one was more qualified for the next Nobel Peace Prize than he was. Casting himself as a peacemaker like no other, he claimed he had “ended seven unendable wars” so far in his second term and added, “Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each of these achievements.”
He sounded like a schoolboy pleading for the best student prize he hadn’t earned. Come on, Americans—what kind of president have you elected? Surely, judging by his first-term demeanour, you knew how erratic he was. Trump’s victory in the 2023 presidential poll epitomises the vanishing of value-based politics in the US. If not, how did a convicted felon, a misogynist, and a friend of child-sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein get elected to govern a country that prides itself on American exceptionalism rooted in Enlightenment principles?
Since it was the first day, there was a full house. Every nation was eager to hear his words, for the US sets the world agenda. When Trump claimed he had ended seven wars, many in the General Assembly hall must have scratched their heads trying to recall what these so-called conflicts were. Trump began enumerating the wars while launching a blistering attack on the UN and accusing it of failing to support his peace initiatives.
According to Trump, these are the conflicts he ended: Cambodia vs. Thailand; Kosovo vs. Serbia; DRC (Congo) vs. Rwanda; Pakistan vs. India; Israel vs. Iran; Egypt vs. Ethiopia; and Armenia vs. Azerbaijan.
Let’s examine how these so-called wars actually ended.
Cambodia vs. Thailand: The hostilities ended after Malaysia launched the ASEAN peace initiative. Trump, of course, warned the two countries that higher tariffs would be imposed if they did not cease fighting.
Kosovo vs. Serbia: The war had long ended in 2008, unless Trump was referring to the economic normalization agreement signed in 2020 during his first term.
DRC vs. Rwanda: Despite the agreement signed in Washington, D.C. in June to end the Congo–Rwanda war, clashes continue.
Pakistan vs. India: while predominantly Muslim Pakistan nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize—disregarding widespread anger in the Muslim world over his complicity in the Israeli genocide—India disputes Trump’s claim.
Israel vs. Iran: More than Trump’s call for a ceasefire, it was the widespread damage and fear of regional escalation that ended the 12-day conflict. Egypt vs. Ethiopia: The two countries are locked in a dispute over a dam. Ethiopia commissioned the upstream dam last month, reducing Nile water flow to Egypt. Though tensions remain high, they never went to war.
Armenia vs. Azerbaijan: A US-brokered agreement was signed between the two nations, but it came well after the war concluded in Azerbaijan’s favour in 2023.
Overall, it is a mixed report card. Trump may want to appear as a peace president—perhaps to even the score with his nemesis, former President Barack Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
How can the Nobel Peace Prize be awarded to Trump, who uses his veto power to block United Nations Security Council efforts to end the genocide in the Gaza Strip? The genocide is unfolding under his watch.
Delivering his speech, he criticised Western nations for recognising Palestine as a state, claiming it amounted to a reward for Hamas terrorism. But he fails to acknowledge the morally sound position, as affirmed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, that statehood for Palestine is not a reward—but a right.
As world leader after world leader calls for an end to the Gaza war and the “free-free Palestine” chant resonates through the UN General Assembly session, the US stands as the lone wolf—supported only by Israel and a few states, among them, sadly and shockingly, ‘Pacifist’ Japan. It was as if everyone saw the emperor walking naked, while the emperor believed himself fully clothed. Trump, the morally naked emperor, shields Benjamin Netanyahu’s Zionist extremist regime even as it bulldozes international law and world court rulings—just as it destroys Palestinian dwellings.
That Israel has become the world’s number one pariah state appears to be lost on the United States. Israel has violated the foundational requirements for UN membership. Therefore, it cannot be called a civilised state. It acts contrary to the UN membership condition enshrined in Article 4(1), which calls on member states to accept the obligations “contained in the Charter.” It was only last week that a top-level UN committee ruled that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, but the murderous Netanyahu regime took no notice. And it is such an uncivilised state that the Trump administration defends at all costs. Shame!
Why blame Israel alone? Most UN member states that maintain trade ties with Israel should also be held accountable for enabling its actions and violating their obligations under UN membership. They have disregarded the International Court of Justice ruling that came into force last week. Last year, a UN resolution called on member states to cease trade ties with Israel, if it failed to honour the court’s deadline to withdraw from Palestinian territory by September 18.
Yet, Trump has no qualms about whitewashing Israel’s crimes and trying to justify them on the basis of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. He did, however, call for an immediate end to the suffering in Gaza by urging Hamas to release all hostages and accept a ceasefire. But Hamas has, on several occasions, accepted US proposals only for Israel to scuttle the progress. Yet the Trump administration, in its effort to demonise Hamas, continued to echo Israel’s mantra that Hamas is blocking a deal to end the crisis.
Yet he claims that his peace moves have saved “millions of lives.” His Ukraine peace push has been spurned by Russia. Trump on Tuesday indicated a shift in policy—instead of urging Ukraine to concede territory, he now says Ukraine should regain all the territories it has lost. Such a formula will only escalate the conflict.
Trump has little clout with Russia to compel it to stop the Ukraine war, but he could end the Gaza war with a single phone call to Netanyahu.
How can he win the Nobel Peace Prize when his deliberate failure to stop the Gaza war is contributing to a staggering loss of life? Besides, will the Nobel Committee overlook his ludicrous claim at the world assembly that climate change is a “big hoax”—and his advice to Europeans to embrace a hostile, xenophobic policy toward migrants?
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