International Politics

WASHINGTON - For President Trump, this was a Daniel in the lions’ den moment. He was addressing a world body that the US administration openly portrays as increasingly irrelevant, corrupt and in steep decline.

There is no love lost between the White House and the United Nations, and the United States has recently withdrawn from several UN organisations, including its Human Rights Council; the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation; and the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Trump’s administration has meanwhile faced a wave of attacks from UN officials over everything, from deportation policies to its steadfast support for Israel.

So it is hardly surprising his message to the UN was blunt and hard–hitting.

He had no time for calls from the UK, Australia, Canada and France for the recognition of a Palestinian State, keeping the pressure firmly on Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

His full–throated blast on Europe to an audience containing the ruling elites of the EU stunned the watching world.

Trump is a strong critic of the European Union, even if he has built a close working relationship with some key European leaders, including Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Poland’s new president Karol Nawrocki.

Though the scale of this public attack on Europe – a continent he cherishes, incidentally – was of a new order.

What is more, it will have hit home, for it contained any number of home truths – even if the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz or British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not want to hear them.

End open borders. Stop importing criminals. Defend your sovereignty. Fight Islamist extremism. Stand up for Christianity. End vastly expensive Net Zero climate policies.

Love him or loathe him as many of his adversaries and critics do at the UN, President Trump is always guaranteed to deliver a powerful message that shakes up world bodies and international elites. (Pic: The Conversation)