Unfortunately for the US, the Mango Paedo was allowed to give a speech at the UN1. Most of it was self-aggrandisement, lies and stoking the fear of foreigners he relies on to obtain votes from the gullible. To read it is like reading a story from a child with little or no concept of truth. It is extremely embarrassing for the US, that a conman who aims his speeches at his numerous rallies to the gullible MAGAts, believes such a silly speech could impress knowledgeable ambassadors, national leaders and sundry other functionaries, is astonishing. This was stated by former US ambassador to Russia, and professor of political science Michael McFaul, who said: Trump’s UN speech will appeal to his MAGA base, but no one else”2.
Others were less charitable in their analysis. It was reported that one diplomat said: “This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?” Former U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, Luis Moreno, said: “I speak to a lot of foreign diplomats, journalists, officials and just plain folks. They are simply astounded and speechless on how one man has turned us into a punchline. A very dangerous and reckless one. Americans need to wake up.” Democrat U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, said: “Trump just embarrassed our country in front of the entire world at the UN. We heard America in retreat. For all our partners who still believe in the rule of law, freedom, human rights, and democracy, we need you to step up and lead. It will demand all our collective action.” The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor and Russia expert, said: “I would say that it’s a dangerous thing to show the world that the American president is clearly suffering from some kind of disordered emotional issue, but by this point, there’s not a country on the planet that didn’t already know it”2.
Former assistant Secretary of State in the Obama administration, Joel Rubin stated that the speech was “completely bonkers”. Slate’s Fred Kaplan stated that Trump’s UN address “might be the most bonkers speech of his political career … It was, among other things, unrelentingly, embarrassingly — and, most of all, delusionally — egomaniacal”3.
Climate activist, Bill McKibben, stated the speech “was definitely the dumbest speech that delegates have ever had to listen to—as the shots of them looking on in stony disbelief as Trump vented about broken escalators, MAGA hats, and his general greatness for nearly an hour (ignoring the 15 minute time limit respected by the mere mortals that rule other nations). Just to give you a flavour of his address, he devoted a considerable section to describing the floor treatments he would have provided for the UN if he’d won some contract long ago”. He added: “the longest, and dumbest, section of the speech was about climate change. Trump—who fifteen years ago helped take out a full page ad demanding more climate action from Barack Obama—described it on this day not only a “hoax,” but even more: “the largest con job ever perpetrated on the planet.” There’s no point refuting his climate denialism; evidence, data, and expert analysis bounce off his bronzed hide like tennis balls off a rhino4.
Trump’s other claims in his idiotic speech are of course garbage, and rebuttals to most can be found in various places5-7.
As a counterpoint, it is worth listening to Canadian PM, Mark Carney’s speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, as Carney has a functioning brain which is not consumed by self-aggrandisement. He spoke “about how a middle power, like Canada, can deal with the situation where the rules-based order is eroding, great-power rivalry is intensifying, and authoritarian models are hardening. … We had collective security anchored in NATO, our geography … gave us privileged access to the world’s largest and most dynamic economy. And it distanced us from the major state and non-state threats. We also subscribe to an expectation that … non-market authoritarian countries would converge over time through engagement to free markets, open societies, and even democratic values”. He continued: “So, a few things have changed. Certainly, that convergence of values has proved elusive. The economic strategy of the United States has clearly changed, from the support for the multilateral system to a more transactional and managed bilateral trade and investment approach. Global power is moving, you can debate how much or how far this will go, from American hegemony to great-power rivalry. … All of this is reducing … the effectiveness of our multilateral institutions from the WTO to the U.N. on which middle powers like Canada have greatly relied”8.
So, what do we do about it? And … we think we can thrive … in this new non-system or the system that’s evolving for three reasons. … the first is we have what the world wants. We are an energy superpower. Eighty-five percent of our energy is clean. We’re one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, one of the largest reserves of oil and gas. We are top five in ten of the world’s most important critical minerals. … We are a leading developer of AI. And our research universities are some of the biggest producers in volume of AI, computing, and quantum talent in the world. … Our pension funds are some of if not THE most sophisticated infrastructure investors in the world, … and we have a government that still has fiscal capacity to act decisively at a moment when governments need to act decisively. Now, the second reason … is we have values to which much of the world … still aspires. We’re a pluralistic society that works. Our cities are amongst the most diverse in the world. Public square is loud, diverse, and free. By the nature of our federation, we have to practice collaboration and partnership. And it’s a country that is still committed to sustainability. … The third reason why I’m going to argue we can thrive in this time is we recognise what’s going on. This is not a transition; this is a rupture. This is a sharp change in a short period of time driven by a variety of factors. We have a determination to rise up and meet this8.
Carney’s speech includes much more than that paraphrased above, I am sure the Australian government watched both speeches, but I also hope that they read both transcripts carefully. That will clearly demonstrate that they cannot rely on the US for anything any more, because it has become unreliable. It has become the plaything and the piggy bank for Trump and his oligarchs, fascists one and all. This unreliability is manifest in various ways, including; economically, militarily, in trade, in travel, in alliances, and in the erosion of ‘soft power’. The reaction to this unreliability is also manifest in various ways; alienation and turning away of allies, a decrease in tourism, decline in buying US military hardware, boycotts of US products, circumventing the US in trade deals, and students avoiding enrolling in US universities, among others.
Trump and his coterie of Project 2025 christofascist ghouls have probably severely damaged the US, and unless they are removed soon, that damage will likely be irreparable. It has been obvious to me and, I presume, to others that China, with its huge population and its rapid increase in economic power would eventually overtake the US economically. However, I never dreamed that this would be hastened by the US self-destructing.
Sources
- https://www.rev.com/transcripts/trump-speaks-at-un
- https://www.newsbreak.com/alternet-332687158/4252342498869-astounded-and-speechless-diplomats-bash-trump-s-stark-raving-mad-un-speech
- https://www.alternet.org/trump-un-speech-slate/
- https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/the-stupidest-speech-in-un-history
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/23/trump-un-speech-fact-check-claims
- https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fact-checking-trump-climate-change-general-assembly/story?id=125855451
- https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/sep/23/trump-un-general-assembly-speech/
- https://www.cfr.org/event/russell-c-leffingwell-lecture-prime-minister-mark-carney-canada
