US president says recognising Palestine encourages conflict, accedes to Hamas ransom demands Tells world leaders their countries are ‘going to hell’ Says NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft that violate airspace Reiterates claim he ended India-Pakistan war.
UNITED NATIONS – Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said the current wave of recognitions of Palestinian statehood represents a sub-mission to Hamas’s “ransom demands,” rewards the terror group, and encourages con-flict.
Trump also repeated his position that Iran must not have nuclear weapons, and his asser-tion that US bombers obliterated Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity during the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June.
In a speech lasting almost an hour, the president trumpeted his role in settling global dis-putes, called climate change “the greatest con job,” accused the UN of “funding an as-sault” on the West by supporting migrants, and told European nations they were “going to hell” because their immigration policies were insufficiently restrictive.
On Gaza, Trump said he has been “deeply engaged” in efforts to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. He accused Hamas of stonewalling on the ef-forts to end the war sparked by the terror group’s invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023.
“Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace,” said Trump. “We can’t forget October 7, can we?”
He then blasted Western countries, including Britain, Canada and France, that recognized Palestinian statehood in the days ahead of the General Assembly.
“Now, as if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state,” said Trump.
United States President Donald Trump has told the United Nations General Assembly that Israel’s war on Gaza must stop immediately as he calls the recent recognition of Palestini-an statehood by several Western countries a “reward” for Hamas.
“We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately,” Trump told world leaders in New York on Tuesday, adding that he has been “deeply engaged” in trying to secure a ceasefire.
He reiterated his call for the captives held in Gaza to be returned home. “We have to get it done. We have to negotiate peace. We have to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back,” he said, referring to the 20 of the 48 remaining captives still believed to be alive.
Those who support peace should be united in demanding the release of the captives, he told the General Assembly. “As if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognise the Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” he said.
In contrast, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a meeting on Sunday at the UN aimed at reviving the two-state solution that statehood for Palestinians “is a right, not a reward”. Sultan Barakat, professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, said that while Trump called for the war to stop at once, he fell short of mentioning how.
US President Donald Trump Tuesday stood by his stand that he stopped the conflict be-tween India and Pakistan, asserting that he had ended seven wars during the seven-month-old administration in its second term.
“In a period of just seven months, I have ended seven unendable wars. They said they were unendable…Some were going for 31 years. Two of them, 31 think of it, 31 years. One was 36 years, one was 28 years,” Trump said in his first address to world leaders at the General Debate from the UN podium.
“I ended seven wars, and in all cases, they were raging, with countless thousands of peo-ple being killed. This includes Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda, a vicious, violent war that was, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Trump added.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Wash-ington, he has reiterated his claim nearly dozens of times that he “helped settle” the ten-sions between India and Pakistan.
But India has consistently denied Trump’s claim.
On Gaza, Trump said he has been involved in trying to get a ceasefire in Gaza and that the negotiating parties “have to get it done”.
He brought up the fact that several powerful countries, including US allies, have in recent days recognized a Palestinian state.
Trump says “this would be a reward” for what he called Hamas’s atrocities. Instead of giv-ing in to Hamas’s ransom demands, Trump said that those who want peace should be united in one message: to release the hostages now.
