WATCH: Trump confronts global leaders at UN over immigration, energy

NEW YORK CITY - Over 140 world leaders, senior officials and delegations have gathered in New York City to discuss the world's most pressing problems at this year's United Nations General Assembly, and on Tuesday, President Donald Trump delivered the first address of his second term to the annual gathering.

Trump has already reduced U.S. support for the U.N. since his latest inauguration. He withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization and ended participation in the U.N. Human Rights Council. Global leaders are also dealing with wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan and concerns about artificial intelligence.

What did Trump say in his address?

What we know:

Trump called immigration and policies confronting climate change a "double-tailed monster" that’s ruining Europe. His rhetoric was especially harsh on what he called "the unmitigated immigration disaster."

Here’s what he said: "If you don’t stop people that you’ve never seen before, that you have nothing in common with, your country is going to fail. I’m the President of the United States, but I worry about Europe. I love Europe, I love the people of Europe. And I hate to see it being devastated by energy and immigration, that double-tailed monster that destroys everything in its wake."

Then he directly addressed European leaders: "You’re doing it because you want to be nice. You want to be politically correct, and you’re destroying your heritage."

The president scoffed at past predictions on climate change

Trump urged European countries to abandon green energy initiatives, scoffing that, in decades past, some experts predicted that by the year 2000 "climate change will cause a global catastrophe."

He said scientists predicted some nations might be "wiped off the map" by now, but insisted that’s "not happening."

Actually, climate change has indeed triggered rising sea levels and intensifying storms that have caused small island nations to shrink. Such a phenomenon has also cost enormous sums of money for disaster response, cleanup and rebuilding in the U.S. and around the world.

Nonetheless, Trump insisted it was "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world in my opinion."

He said "all of these predictions were wrong" and "made by stupid people," adding, "[I]f you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail."

Who else will be speaking?  

What's next:

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is scheduled to speak on Wednesday, Sept. 24. He will most likely address Russia's invasion and the ongoing war in his country. Later in the week, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, is expected to speak on the same topic. 

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian will speak on Wednesday as well, according to his political advisor, who announced the move on X. He will also most likely speak about the ongoing war in Gaza, as Israel looped them in earlier this year when it launched attacks on Iran's nuclear and military structure.

Syria's president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, will also speak Wednesday. It's his U.N. debut, as he led a rebel alliance in forcing out Bashar al-Assad last year.

Thursday speakers

Prime Minister Kamil Idris of Sudan is scheduled to speak on Thursday. He'll likely discuss the civil war that's overtaken his country over the past two years. Representatives from South Sudan will speak later this week, along with representatives from Afghanistan, where the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Friday speakers

On Friday, the group will hear from Premier Li Qiang of China and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, though what exactly will be discussed remains to be seen.

India’s minister of external affairs, S. Jaishankar, will also speak Friday. The relationship between India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and President Trump has become strained in recent months due to the "unsolved" military conflict between India and Pakistan. The conflict is primarily about the disputed territory of Kashmir, which was claimed by both countries decades ago following the Partition of India, which divided British India into the two nations.

Additionally, a representative of Nepal will speak on Friday about the violent protests that toppled the nation's government earlier this month. Mass demonstrations were led by Gen-Z, who rose up in response to the country banning social media apps.

Finally, Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yyan Gil, will address the Assembly. Recently, U.S. naval forces have gathered in the country's waters. President Trump reportedly signed a directive last month instructing the Pentagon to use military force against certain drug cartels. At around the same time, the administration declared Cartel de los Soles, a Venezuelan criminal group, a terrorist organization. 

Palestinian statehood

On Monday, Palestinian statehood was the topic of a conference hosted by France and Saudi Arabia.

French president Emmanuel Macron formally recognized a Palestinian state at the conference, saying that "the time has come to do justice for the Palestinian people."

Following Macron's comments, Monaco, Belgium, Andorra, Malta and Luxembourg all recognized, bringing the total number of member states that acknowledge a Palestinian state to three-quarters of U.N. membership. Britain, Australia, Portugal and Canada formally recognized Palestinian statehood over the weekend. Plus, Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized a state earlier this year, and Sweden recognized in 2014.

Germany, Italy and Japan, all major U.S. allies, declined to recognize a Palestinian state. 

Dig deeper:

Macron additionally laid out a plan for a U.N.-mandated international stabilization force in postwar Gaza. He also called on Hamas to release the remaining hostages and to end "the bombings of Gaza, the massacres and the displacement." 

Although historic, recognizing a Palestinian state is unlikely to change what's happening in Gaza right now. As the International Crisis Group’s Israel-Palestine project director, Max Rodenbeck, told the Agence France-Presse, "[u]nless backed up by concrete measures, recognizing Palestine as a state risks becoming a distraction from the reality, which is an accelerating erasure of Palestinian life in their homeland."

Israel and the United States boycotted the summit, but Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu will speak later this week. 

The U.N. will also hear from Palestinian representatives later this week, who will be participating in the event virtually. The Trump administration denied visas to Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, but a prerecorded statement from him will be played.

UN street closures map

Local perspective:

The following streets will be closed at the discretion of the NYPD:

• FDR Drive between Whitehall Street and 42nd Street
• Area bounded by East 86th Street on the North, East 80th Street on the South, Park Avenue on the East and 5th Avenue on the West; All inclusive
• Area bounded by 60th Street on the North, 34th Street on the South, 1st Avenue / United Nations Plaza on the East and 3rd Avenue on the West; All inclusive
• Area bounded by 57th Street on the North, 45th Street on the South, 3rd Avenue on the East and Madison Avenue on the West; All inclusive
• Area bounded by 58th Street on the North, 49th Street on the South, Madison Avenue on the East and 6th Avenue / Avenue of the Americas on the West; All inclusive
• Area bounded by West 47th Street on the North, West 44th Street on the South, 7th Avenue on the East and 8th Avenue on the West; All inclusive
• Grand Army Plaza between 58th Street and 60th Street
• Grand Army Plaza between East Drive and 5th Avenue
• 8th Avenue between West 49th Street and West 44th Street
• 7th Avenue between West 56th Street and 59th Street
• 6th Avenue between West 59th Street and West 46th Street
• 5th Avenue between East 63rd Street and East 49th Street
• Madison Avenue between East 58th Street and East 42nd Street
• Vanderbilt Avenue between East 47th Street and East 42nd Street
• Park Avenue between East 86th Street and East 45th Street
• Lexington Avenue between East 57th Street and East 42nd Street
• 3rd Avenue between 83rd Street and 72nd Street
• East 83rd Street between 5th Avenue and 3rd Avenue
• East 63rd Street between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue
• East 62nd Street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue
• East 61st Street between 5th Avenue and Lexington Avenue
• West 59th Street between 7th Avenue and 5th Avenue
• West/East 58th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue / Avenue of the Americas
• West/East 57th Street between 7th Avenue and Dead End / FDR Drive
• West 56th Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue
• West 55th Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue
• West 54th Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue
• West/East 53rd Street between 7th Avenue and FDR Drive
• West 52nd Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue
• West 51st Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue
• West/East 50th Street between 7th Avenue and Dead End / FDR Drive
• West/East 49th Street between 8th Avenue and FDR Drive Service Road
• FDR Drive Service Road between East 48th Street and East 49th Street
• East 48th Street between 1st Avenue and FDR Drive Service Road
• West 46th Street between 8th Avenue and 6th Avenue / Avenue of the Americas
• West/East 42nd Street between 7th Avenue and FDR Drive
• West/East 34th Street between 7th Avenue and FDR Drive

UN General Assembly 2025 schedule

Click HERE for more information.

UN General Assembly 2025 dates

The high-level General Debate is scheduled from Tuesday, Sept. 23, through Friday, Sept. 27. 

Traffic is expected to be heaviest early in the week, with several high-profile events planned.

UN week NYC 2025: NYC traffic today

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