Trump’s 2025 UN Speech Weaponises US Imperial Power to Assert American Hegemony
On September 23, 2025, US President Donald Trump delivered a nearly hour-long address to the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, a speech that laid bare the contradictions at the heart of the UN’s founding and the United States’ role within it. The UN, born in 1945 from the crucible of World War II, was an advance over the lawless nationalism and fascist aggression of the 1930s, yet it remains a product of power politics and European imperialism.
Its structure, particularly the UN Security Council’s veto-wielding permanent members, institutionalised the dominance of the Allied victors, including the US, UK and France. Trump’s speech, however, weaponised US imperial power in a manner that not only rejected the UN’s rhetorical commitment to international cooperation and multilateralism but also dismissed any notion of a multipolar world order, replacing it with an unabashed assertion of American hegemony.
UN’s imperial roots and fragile ideals
The UN was conceived as a response to the failures of the League of Nations, which crumbled under the weight of 1930s fascist expansionism – Germany’s annexation of Austria, Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, Japan’s aggression in Manchuria and British and French appeasement of fascist expansionism. These acts of nationalist warfare and lawlessness exposed the need for a global institution to stabilise international relations.
Yet, the UN’s creation was steeped in the power politics of its time. The Security Council’s permanent members – US, UK, France, Russia and China – were not chosen for their moral authority but for their military and economic might, a legacy of European imperialism and its global reach. This structure ensured that the great powers could veto any resolution threatening their interests, embedding imperial hierarchies into the UN’s DNA.
Despite these flaws, the UN represented a step forward, institutionalising norms of sovereignty, human rights and collective security. It offered a platform for dialogue, however imperfect, to curb the unchecked nationalism that fuelled two world wars.
Over decades, it fostered multilateralism – a system where states, in theory, cooperate to address global challenges like poverty, conflict and climate change. The UN also gestured toward multipolarity, giving smaller nations a voice, albeit limited, through the General Assembly.
However, Trump’s 2025 speech revealed how fragile these ideals remain when confronted by a resurgent US imperialism that rejects even the pretence of cooperation.
Trump’s speech: A rejection of multilateralism
Trump’s address was a masterclass in grievance-laden nationalism, blending MAGA-style rhetoric with a direct assault on the UN’s purpose. He began with a lighthearted jab at a malfunctioning teleprompter, claiming he preferred speaking “from the heart,” but the heart he revealed was one of unapologetic reactionary American exceptionalism.
“America is blessed with the strongest economy, the strongest borders, the strongest military, the strongest friendships and the strongest spirit of any nation on the face of the earth,” he declared, setting the tone for a speech that celebrated US dominance while dismissing global cooperation.
No mention of universal values, human rights, opposition to genocidal warfare and aggression. His rhetoric systematically dismantled the UN’s multilateral ethos.
Trump criticised the organisation for its “empty words” and failure to resolve conflicts, stating, “All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It’s empty words – and empty words don’t solve war.”
This critique, while not entirely baseless, given the UN’s bureaucratic inefficiencies and inability to do anything against the interest of the great powers, ignored its role as a forum for dialogue and conflict prevention. Instead, Trump positioned himself as a unilateral peacemaker, claiming to have ended “seven un-endable wars” in seven months – a misleading assertion, as deals in conflicts like Cambodia-Thailand and Armenia-Azerbaijan were either overstated or shaky.
Trump’s speech weaponised US imperial power by framing American strength as the sole solution to global problems. He boasted of obliterating Iran’s nuclear capabilities and imposing “very strict tariffs” to pressure Russia over Ukraine, accusing NATO allies of hypocrisy for buying Russian oil. These actions underscored a transactional approach to foreign policy, where US economic and military might dictate terms, bypassing multilateral frameworks. His call for Europe to “cease all energy purchases from Russia” or face US tariffs further illustrated this coercive stance, treating allies as subordinates rather than partners.
Dismissing multipolarity and global cooperation
Trump’s rejection of multilateralism extended to a complete dismissal of multipolarity – the idea of a world order where power is shared among multiple states. The UN, for all its flaws, provides a platform for emerging powers like India, Brazil and South Africa to advocate for a more equitable global system. Yet, Trump’s speech offered no space for such a vision. Instead, he attacked core UN-backed initiatives, particularly on migration and climate change, framing them as threats to national sovereignty.
“Immigration and the high cost of so-called green renewable energy is destroying a large part of the free world,” he claimed, calling climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”
His attack on migration was particularly venomous, accusing the UN of funding an “invasion” by spending “$372 million in cash to support 624,000 migrants to journey into the United States.” This exaggerated claim ignored the complexities of global migration and the UN’s humanitarian efforts, instead painting the organisation as an enemy of the national borders. Trump’s warning to European leaders – “Your countries are going to hell” – for their immigration policies further underscored his rejection of cooperative solutions, urging nations to adopt his hardline stance or face ruin.
On climate change, Trump’s denialism struck at the heart of multilateral efforts like the Paris Agreement, which the UN champions. By dismissing renewable energy as a “scam” and praising “traditional energy sources,” he not only undermined global environmental cooperation but also reinforced US dominance in fossil fuel markets, aligning with corporate interests over collective global needs.
This stance alienates allies and emerging powers alike, who see climate action as a shared necessity, further isolating the US from any multipolar dialogue.
Weaponising US imperial power
Trump’s speech was not merely rhetorical; it was a declaration of US imperial intent. His “America First” agenda, reasserted in his withdrawal from the World Health Organization and UN Human Rights Council, signals a broader retreat from multilateral institutions. By framing the UN as irrelevant while simultaneously leveraging US economic and military power to dictate global outcomes – whether through tariffs, military strikes, or brokering deals on his terms – Trump weaponises American hegemony.
His call for nations to “release the hostages now” in Gaza, while opposing Palestinian statehood recognition as a “reward for Hamas,” exemplifies this approach, prioritising US-defined ‘security’ interests over diplomatic consensus.
This weaponisation erodes even the rhetorical commitment to international cooperation that the UN, despite its imperial origins, has sought to uphold. Trump’s vision leaves no room for the multipolarity that nations like India advocate, where power is still distributed more equitably. Instead, it reasserts a unipolar world under US dominance, echoing the imperial power politics of the UN’s founding but without the veneer of collective security.
The UN’s fragile future
The UN, for all its contradictions, remains a critical platform for addressing global challenges. Its roots in power politics and European imperialism are undeniable, yet it has evolved into a space where smaller nations can challenge great power dominance, however imperfectly. Trump’s 2025 speech, by contrast, seeks to dismantle this fragile progress, replacing multilateralism with a unilateral assertion of US power. His rhetoric not only undermines the UN’s legitimacy but also aims to further inflame fascistic fervour of the 1930s, which the organisation was created to prevent.
As the UN marks its 80th year, Trump’s address serves as a stark reminder of its vulnerabilities. The advance won in 1945 – a world order prioritising dialogue over destruction – hangs by a thread when the world’s most powerful nation rejects cooperation. For nations like India that are committed to a multipolar world, the challenge is to strengthen the UN’s multilateral framework against such imperial assaults, ensuring it remains a space for collective action rather than a stage for American hegemony.
Inderjeet Parmar is a professor of international politics and associate dean of research in the School of Policy and Global Affairs at City St George’s, University of London, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a columnist at The Wire.
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