Announces Greenland bases, calls AI threat warnings a ‘hoax’
President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, calling on member nations to enforce what he described as the “complete economic isolation of Iran” and threatening to “annihilate” the country if no diplomatic agreement is reached.
“I call on all nations to help to enforce the complete economic isolation of Iran,” Trump said in his speech. “If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the last 51-year menace of Iranian terror … and oil prices will come plummeting down even lower than they were at the start of the conflict.”
The president’s call for international unity on Iran came as numerous US allies have complained about soaring energy prices and growing international instability during his administration, according to The Guardian. The newspaper reported that Trump’s New York itinerary reflects how his presidency has reshaped global politics over the past two years.
In remarks captured on video, Trump said he could “annihilate Iran” if no deal is reached. During the formal address, he elaborated on the choice he faces.
“I have a big decision to make: will a deal be made with Iran that let them rebuild and create a far greater country than ever was before,” Trump said. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill or destroy people and continents?”
Trump denied that the midterm elections would influence his decision-making on Iran. “They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don’t realise is that I’m not running,” he said. “It doesn’t even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Beyond Iran, Trump announced that the US would build two new military bases in Greenland under a trilateral Arctic security agreement with Denmark and Greenland. Photographs published by The Guardian showed Trump signing the accord alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
“We will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent, and also Europe and other places,” Trump said in announcing the bases. “No US adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland any more, or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval.”
The Greenland deal followed a year of what the Guardian described as “geopolitical haggling that has unsettled the Nato alliance.”
On artificial intelligence, Trump pushed back against warnings that the technology posed an existential threat, calling those concerns a “hoax” and rebranding AI as “superintelligence.” “I’m not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution,” he said.
The Guardian reported that Trump’s address was less bellicose than his 2025 UN speech, when he excoriated the organization and told European allies that their countries were “going to hell” because of their migration policies. At one point on Tuesday, Trump turned to thank the UN Security Council for condemning Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Ukraine, Trump claimed once again that he was close to settling the war, though he offered no new details. He is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the speech to press for an energy truce aimed at easing diesel prices driven up by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and by Kyiv’s attacks on Moscow’s refining capacity.
Trump defended the US operation that arrested former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a midnight raid and the subsequent oil deal with Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s successor, who agreed to share Venezuela’s oil wealth with the United States. “To the victor belong the spoils,” Trump said.
The president denied that the US was running short of critical munitions. “We have more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using,” he said. He also attacked the International Criminal Court as a “rogue organisation.”
Later in the week, Trump is expected to meet Gulf leaders affected by Iran’s retaliation against the joint US-Israeli strikes that began in February, and to hold a pull-aside with Rodríguez.