Trump will use UNGA to paint himself as the world’s peacemaker even as he stokes war in Iran

P resident Donald Trump will use his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to cast himself as a global leader who has "confronted complex problems head-on" and boast of his purported success in formulating peace deals — even as the war he launched against Iran in February enters its seventh month with no end in sight.

Trump is set to arrive in his former hometown of New York on Monday afternoon after a day of meetings at the White House — plus a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new helipad he has had constructed on the White House’s South Lawn — and will then have a pair of meetings with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and French President Emmanuel Macron before spending the evening at what his ambassador to the United Nations Mike Walz described as "political events" hosted at Trump Tower.

The president will speak at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday morning in the time slot traditionally reserved for American presidents — following Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Brazilian President Lula da Silva — and will then hold a series of bilateral meetings, including his first sit-down with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

He’ll also meet with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss the ongoing fallout from the war he started against Iran more than a half-year ago and have a brief pull-aside with the U.S.-backed interim leader of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, before returning to the White House.

Although Waltz characterized Trump’s remarks to the U.N. as highlighting his administration's accomplishments, the president arrives in New York with precious little to boast of, having started a war that has completely upended the global economy and destabilized the Middle East while empowering Iran and its proxies.

Waltz, who Trump installed in the U.N. post last year after the former Florida congressman embarrassed the administration by inadvertently leaking classified information in a Signal chat that included a reporter, said Trump’s remarks Tuesday will “will highlight how he and his administration have confronted complex problems head-on around the world” and brag about how peace deals he has worked on are “in the process of driving to conclusion.”

“He'll include many of the issues, frankly neglected by past administrations, that he's not going to kick the can on. He's not going to leave them for another day or another administration. He will touch on the importance of ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon, which is not only demanded by the United States, has been demanded by the UN Security Council and repeated resolutions, and he'll talk about some of the United States’ accomplishments in over the past year since the last time he was here,” he said.

The president’s brief sojourn to the city he called home for the vast majority of his 80 years will kick off a week heavy on foreign policy matters despite the midterm elections being just over a month away.