Trump Rips 'Hell-Bound' Migration Surge, Blasts Global Fumbles on Ending Wars in Scorching UN Tirade "Your Countries Going to Hell"

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2025. REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR

New York, 23 September 2025 - In a fiery address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, President Donald Trump unleashed a torrent of criticism against unchecked global migration and the body's perceived impotence in resolving ongoing conflicts, warning world leaders that inaction would send their nations "straight to hell." Delivering his first speech to the UN since reclaiming the White House, Trump positioned his "America First" doctrine as the antidote to what he described as a crumbling international order, railing against open borders, climate policies, and multilateral failures.

The 45-minute speech, delivered to a packed hall at the UN headquarters in New York amid the 80th anniversary of the organization's founding, echoed themes from Trump's previous addresses but amplified them with fresh barbs tailored to 2025's geopolitical tensions. "Your countries are going to hell if you don't stop this madness," Trump declared, pointing to a "destructive wave of migration" that he claimed was "altering the fabric of nations and destroying cultures from within." He touted his administration's aggressive border measures, including mass deportations and the dismantling of post-World War II asylum frameworks, as a model for the world.

Trump's migration salvo came amid record-high global displacement figures. As of mid-2024, the world counted 304 million international migrants—about 3.7% of the global population of 8.2 billion—fueled by conflicts, climate disasters, and economic instability. In the United States alone, immigrants numbered 53.3 million as of January 2025, the highest ever recorded, though Trump highlighted a sharp drop in border encounters under his renewed policies, projecting a 66% decline to around 855,000 entries for the full year. He accused the UN of exacerbating the crisis by "funding illegal migration" through misguided humanitarian programs and urged members to adopt "sovereign borders" or face economic collapse. "If you come illegally into the United States, you're going to jail or you're going back to where you came from," he reiterated, drawing scattered applause from a divided audience.

The president's ire extended to the UN's track record on conflict resolution, where he lambasted the organization for "fumbles" that have prolonged wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Trump claimed credit for ending "seven unendable wars" during his first term—a figure fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked as inflated, noting that U.S. involvement in places like Afghanistan did conclude under his watch, but others like Yemen and Syria persisted. Turning to current flashpoints, he demanded an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza tied to a hostages-for-prisoners swap, blaming Hamas exclusively for the conflict's escalation and rejecting any path to Palestinian statehood. "We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately. We have to immediately negotiate peace," Trump said, vowing U.S. mediation but warning of unilateral actions like tariffs on Russia if progress stalled.

On Ukraine, Trump struck an uncharacteristically hawkish tone, reversing earlier suggestions that Kyiv might need to cede territory for peace. "Ukraine could successfully take back all of the land" occupied by Russia, he asserted, crediting potential EU backing and slamming NATO allies for "bankrolling Putin's war machine" through European oil purchases from Moscow. This marked a "major shift" from his campaign rhetoric, where he had floated concessions to end the conflict swiftly. Trump also floated provocative ideas, such as NATO forces downing Russian jets in Ukrainian airspace, underscoring his impatience with the UN Security Council's gridlock.

The speech wasn't without broader swipes: Trump mocked UN climate initiatives as a "con job" and "green energy scam," arguing they would bankrupt nations without curbing emissions. He criticized European allies for weak defense spending and distanced the U.S. from global cooperation, declaring, "They can only do well when they're working with us; without us, they will fail just as others have failed." UN Secretary-General António Guterres later countered that the body's "failure to end the Gaza war" was indeed undermining global credibility, echoing Trump's frustration but attributing it to member states' divisions rather than institutional flaws.

Reactions poured in swiftly. French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking afterward, urged the U.S. to lead on Gaza's ceasefire, while Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva decried Trump's "globalism rejection" as isolationist. Domestically, Democrats labeled the address "divisive," with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling it "a retreat from American leadership." Trump supporters, however, hailed it as a "wake-up call," with former advisor Steve Bannon tweeting that it exposed the UN as a "useless club."

As world leaders mingled in bilateral meetings on the sidelines—Trump was scheduled to discuss Gaza's future with Israeli and Arab counterparts—the speech reinforced his pivot away from multilateralism. With U.S. funding cuts to UN programs already in motion, analysts warn of deepening rifts. Yet for Trump, the message was clear: In a world of "fumbles," America—and its allies—must act alone to avoid the inferno.