Macron refutes Trump’s UN speech with a defense of multilateralism over ‘might is right’

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres stated on Tuesday morning that the principles of the U.N. “are under siege,” and U.S. President Donald Trump was quick to prove his point, launching a blistering attack on each and every one of the cooperation and development goals the organization defends.

The Republican president did so from the General Assembly’s speakers’ rostrum at the opening of the 80th session, with a 55-minute speech — in theory, it wasn’t supposed to last more than 15 minutes — in which he just barely fell short of announcing his country’s withdrawal from the U.N. Many had in fact expected this to happen, given that the Republican administration has already pulled the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNESCO, and the Human Rights Committee — the latter two, amid accusations of antisemitism.

That the United Nations is not living up to its potential was one of the kindest things the Republican president said about the organization, so when he ended his remarks without announcing a complete disengagement or the permanent elimination of already depleted funding, a certain relief spread through the room, according to two officials at the organization who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Then, seeing him parade from one bilateral meeting to another, displaying a meekness unthinkable just minutes earlier, the stupor turned to surprise. In his face-to-face with Guterres, Trump assured that he was “100%” behind the United Nations. “We are completely at your disposal to work together for a just peace,” said Trump. A major surprise came from his radical change of opinion on Ukraine, when he asserted that the country invaded by Russia in February 2022 is capable of recovering all the territory occupied by Kremlin troops (until now, Trump had advocated for Kyiv to give up the east of the country in exchange for peace).

In a post published on his Truth Social network, Trump asserted that, with the support of the EU and NATO, “Ukraine would be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that!” He also said he will continue to supply weapons to NATO so that the Alliance “can do what they want” with them, and even encouraged it to shoot down Russian planes flying over its airspace.

This radical shift, however, is part of his rhetorical playbook: following one controversial statement — his invective against the U.N. — with another, support for a potentially victorious Ukraine. In other words, to constantly monopolize attention and the spotlight.

Aside from a small protest against the president outside the U.N. headquarters, which resulted in dozens of arrests, the only explicit reaction to his virulent speech came from London. Trump had accused the mayor, Sadiq Khan, without evidence, of wanting to impose Sharia, or Islamic law. The mayor, “a terrible, terrible mayor,” according to the Republican president, responded on social media with typical British composure. His office simply noted that it would not “dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.”

But no one else contradicted Trump during his 55-minute speech: there was not a murmur of disagreement or displeasure in the room. Nor was there a red light warning the speakers that their 15 minutes were up. Although some of those who spoke after him warned, subtly, against the risk of geopolitical divisions in the organization, no one dared to contradict Trump: only the Iranian ambassador, who left his seat when the U.S. president took the podium, but this is a common gesture among the Tehran delegation. At the end of Trump’s 57-minute disjointed speech, the delegates’ reaction was moderate applause, more polite and diplomatic than enthusiastic.

The speech did provoke heated reactions on social media, however. Many Americans described it as humiliating, shameful, and embarrassing. Posting on X, Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, who was sanctioned by Washington in July “for her blatant antisemitism,” was not short on irony in describing the president’s “visionary speech”: “unmatched imagination, pure stream-of-consciousness, the rare gift of saying whatever comes to mind, on anything, to anyone. A masterclass for sociology, international relations, and political science. Just hardly any law in it.”

The clearest example of official dissent can be gleaned from the words of French President Emmanuel Macron, who praised the purpose and history of the U.N. from the same lectern used by Trump. “Its harshest critics are those who want to exert domination. We don’t want to see ‘might is right’ prevail,” said the French head of state, in a statement as explicit as it was tacit.

The United Nations had been thoroughly preparing itself for Trump’s speech. Since the Republican took office for the second time, his fight against multilateralism has harmed the organization: the U.N. Secretary-General has had to cut $500 million from the budget and plans to reduce the U.N. staff by 20%, a reduction he acknowledged in his speech, while there is growing speculation about a relocation of its headquarters — away from the burdensome cities of New York and Geneva.

Meanwhile, to add to the commotion, the White House turned a minor incident into a major issue — another one of Trump’s trademarks — by stating that if someone intentionally turned off the escalator that Trump and his wife, Melania, were supposed to take to the General Assembly Hall, they should be immediately fired.

In the afternoon, Trump hosted a reception at a super-luxury Manhattan hotel for the nearly 150 foreign leaders participating in the U.N.’s big week. Some of them lined up for hours to have their photo taken with the Trump couple. Many hours had passed since he had attacked the U.N., and no one seemed to remember his broadsides. Or rather, as diplomatic standards dictate, no one even thought of offending the host — something Trump did do with the U.N.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition