US President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the United Nations General Assembly astatine the UN office successful New York City connected September 23, 2025.
Timothy A. Clary | Afp | Getty Images
President Donald Trump mocked the United Nations' office successful a code to the General Assembly, recalling his failed bid to renovate the gathering successful New York.
"Many years ago, a precise palmy existent property developer successful New York, known arsenic Donald J. Trump, I bid connected the renovation and rebuilding of this precise United Nations complex," Trump told the GA during wide-ranging remarks that questioned the intent of the UN.
"I said astatine the clip that I would bash it for $500 million, rebuilding and everything, it would beryllium beautiful," Trump said.
" I utilized to speech about, 'I'm going to springiness you marble floors, they're going to springiness you terrazzo,' " helium recalled. "'I'm going to springiness you the champion of everything, you're going to person mahogany walls. They're going to springiness you plastic.'"
"I realized that they did not cognize what they were doing erstwhile it came to construction," Trump said.
He said that the UN yet decided to spell successful "another direction," which was "much much costly astatine the time" and "produced a acold inferior product."
Trump began his code speechmaking from insubstantial notes due to the fact that the teleprompter was not working.
The escalator astatine the UN besides stopped moving erstwhile helium and First Lady Melania Trump stepped connected it, fueling his attacks connected the headquarters.
"These are the 2 things I got from the United Nations: a atrocious escalator and a atrocious teleprompter," Trump cracked.
In 2005, Trump asked a U.S. Senate committee to let him to negociate renovations of the UN, a petition that was yet denied.
In his code to satellite leaders connected Tuesday, Trump criticized their planetary organization, accusing the UN of operating with "empty words, and bare words don't lick wars."
"The UN has specified tremendous potential, I've ever said it," Trump said.
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"It has specified tremendous, tremendous potential, but it's not adjacent coming adjacent to surviving up to that potential," helium said successful his address, which lasted astir an hour.
"All they look to bash is constitute a truly powerfully worded letter, and past ne'er travel that missive up; it's bare words," helium continued.
Trump's code came arsenic helium has withdrawn the United States from a fig of antithetic UN bodies and slashed backing for the organization.
Trump, who has agelong been captious of the UN, said its subordinate countries "are being ruined" by immigration.
He besides called clime alteration "a con job."
Trump urged the UN to spot his imaginativeness for policy, saying that he's "really bully astatine predicting things."
"During the campaign, they had a hat. The best-selling hat, 'Trump Was Right About Everything,'" helium recalled.
"And I don't accidental that successful a braggadocious way, but it's true," Trump said.
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