Trump to address U.N. as divisions with allies deepen over Palestinian statehood, trade
At the same time, the administration has accelerated its pullback from the U.N., slashing its contributions to the organization and, until last week, leaving its ambassadorship vacant. On Friday, a State Department spokesperson called for the U.N. to “get back to basics, reorienting the organization to its origins as an effective tool for advancing peace, sovereignty, and liberty.”
The retreat was on display Sunday and Monday, after France, the U.K., Canada and Australia formally recognized a Palestinian state — with more countries likely to follow this week — breaking with leadership in Washington. Trump “has been very clear he disagrees with this decision,” Leavitt told reporters Monday in a preview of his address.
“Frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas,” she said, adding that Trump sees the action as “just more talk and not enough action” from his Western counterparts.
Trump has urged European leaders to impose huge tariffs on India and China over their oil purchases to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, and separately, the United States has imposed its own punishing trade tariffs on India and a new $100,000 fee on new H-1 B visas. Other leaders have been locked in negotiations with the administration over the tariff regime.
Trump is also grappling with unresolved wars in Gaza and Ukraine, which he has pledged to end, a task that remains vexingly out of reach. Acknowledging his frustrations, he said recently that Putin “really let me down” about a month after they met in Alaska for talks aimed at progress.
Michael Waltz, in his first remarks as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., warned Monday that Washington expects Russia to “seek ways to de-escalate” following airspace violations into Estonia and Poland — both NATO members. The Senate confirmed Waltz, Trump’s former national security adviser, on Friday.
Trump is also weighing an offer from Putin for a one-year extension to the nuclear weapons treaty with the United States before it expires early next year, Leavitt told reporters.
