President Donald Trump will deliver a “major speech” on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly, the White House said, as world leaders convene in New York for the body’s 80th session.
Trump’s remarks will center on “touting renewal of American strength around the world,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.
“The president will also touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, and he will articulate his straightforward and constructive vision for the world,” Leavitt said.
It will be Trump’s first speech to the annual gathering since his return to office.
President Donald J Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, September 18, 2025.
Aaron Schwartz/Pool/EPA/Shutterstock
Later Tuesday, Trump will participate in bilateral meetings with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina and the European Union. He will also hold a multilateral meeting with leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine war are likely to dominate the U.N. General Assembly this week.
Several prominent world leaders, including key U.S. allies such as the United Kingdom and Canada, are moving to formally recognizing Palestinian statehood as international alarm builds over Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza and an ongoing hunger crisis in Gaza.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron declared at the U.N. General Assembly that France will now recognize a Palestinian state.
“The time for peace has come,” Macron said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke virtually before the U.N. General Assembly on Monday after the Trump administration revoked his U.S. visa last month to attend the conference in person.
Abbas called on Hamas to surrender their weapons and he condemned the killings on Oct. 7, 2023. He also expressed readiness to work with Trump to implement a peace plan and called for a “permanent ceasefire.”
France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a United Nations Summit on Palestinians at UN headquarters during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, September 22, 2025.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Trump has said he wants the war in Gaza to end, but has disagreed with other nations on the issue of Palestinian statehood.
“He feels this does not do anything to release the hostages, which is the primary goal right now in Gaza; does nothing to end this conflict and bring this war to a close,” Leavitt said on Monday.
“And frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas,” Leavitt continued. “So he believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies. And I think you’ll hear him talk about that tomorrow at the U.N.”
On the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for those gathered at U.N. General Assembly to put “strong political pressure” on Russia.
“There is a real need for strong pressure on Russia, new joint steps from everyone in the world who believes that international law must work again,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump’s expressed increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin since their summit in Alaska last month yielded no breakthroughs. Last week, Trump said thought the war would be one of the easiest global conflicts to solve “because of my relationship with President Putin.”
“But he’s let me down,” Trump said. “He’s really let me down.”
Last week, while meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the U.K., Trump signaled he could do more to pressure Russia, but said other countries need to pull back on buying Russian oil first.
“I’m willing to do other things, but not when the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia. If the oil price comes down, very simply, Russia will settle, and the oil price is way down.”
ABC News’ Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
