Key takeaways:
- Trump said he was weighing whether to make a deal with Iran or “annihilate the Islamic Republic” quickly.
- The Cuban delegation walked out after Trump called Cuba “an absolutely failed state” and said “it will fall.”
- Trump said the U.S. government would refer to artificial intelligence as “super intelligence” in official documents.
President Donald Trump used a United Nations address Tuesday to threaten the “annihilation” of Iran, predict the fall of Cuba’s government and announce that the U.S. government would rebrand artificial intelligence as “super intelligence,” delivering a combative speech that mixed claims of peacemaking with warnings of American force.
Speaking before world leaders at the UN General Assembly, Trump said he had “a big decision to make” over Iran, which The Guardian reported has resisted more forcefully than he expected after he decided to go to war against the country in February.
“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild, and create a far greater country than it ever was before?” Trump asked. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?”
The BBC reported that Trump also predicted a deal to end the war would probably follow the U.S. midterm elections in November. His remarks, the outlet said, kept negotiations open while threatening overwhelming force.
Trump again said Iran must not be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons. The Guardian reported that he twice incorrectly said Iran’s current theocratic government had been in power for 51 years; the Islamic revolution that installed the current regime took place in 1979, 47 years ago. The Guardian also reported that Trump cited an apparently inflated figure when he said the regime had “slaughtered over 72,000 of its citizens this year” during anti-government protests. No definitive death toll has been established, and previous estimates have been much lower.
Cuba was another target. Members of the Cuban delegation left the hall as Trump called the country “an absolutely failed state” and said it was “failing like never before.”
“It will fall,” he said, adding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was “deep into negotiations with Cuba.”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez responded on X, accusing Trump of spreading “falsehoods.” He wrote: “The US government is incapable of accepting that Cuba is and has the right to be a full sovereign and independent country.”
Trump also pointed to U.S. actions in Venezuela as evidence of how his administration would respond to threats in the Western Hemisphere. The Guardian reported that U.S. special forces seized President Nicolás Maduro in January and brought him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges. Trump said the episode showed that “the United States will no longer permit threats to America to gain a foothold anywhere in the western hemisphere” and that, if necessary, it would use its “unmatched military might” to protect U.S. interests.
He also praised a recent oil deal with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, saying it placed the U.S. and Venezuela jointly in control of more than 60% of the world’s oil. “It was perhaps the biggest deal ever made. To the victor belong the spoils — you’ve all heard that,” Trump said.
Trump denounced the International Criminal Court as an “out-of-control institution” and “an evil group of people,” saying the United States would not allow service members or others to face “show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us.”
The speech also included friendlier language toward allies. Trump praised NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as a “great leader” and lauded Denmark as “an incredible, beautiful country.” He highlighted a new agreement involving Greenland, saying the U.S. would build two military bases in the Arctic territory. The U.S., Denmark and Greenland held a signing ceremony at the UN after the speech, the BBC reported.
On artificial intelligence, Trump said the U.S. government would stop calling it “artificial” because the word “makes it sound fake.” Instead, he said, official documents would use “super intelligence.”
“Welcome to the new world of super intelligence,” Trump said. “Let’s see if that goes. It’s much more accurate.”
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