Trump Threatens to ‘Annihilate’ Iran in U.N. Speech

Trump's UNGA Speech: Threats to 'Annihilate' Iran, Calls for ICC Boycott

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World Brief: Trump Threatens to ‘Annihilate’ Iran in U.N. Speech

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Trump Threatens to ‘Annihilate’ Iran in U.N. Speech

Such warnings—on the U.N. stage, no less—could be considered war crimes.

!An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer

*An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer*

*Alexandra Sharp*

By **Alexandra Sharp**, the World Brief writer at *Foreign Policy*.

!U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

*U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.*

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 22. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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September 22, 2026, 5:20 PM

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at **U.S.** President Donald Trump’s speech at the **United Nations General Assembly**, an expanded U.S. military presence in **Greenland**, and the **European Union**’s initial free-trade deal with the **Philippines**.

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War Crimes at the U.N.?

U.S. President Donald Trump presented a damning choice during his United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) speech on Tuesday: Make a deal with Iran that “lets them rebuild” or “annihilate” the Islamic Republic. “Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” Trump posed, echoing past threats that experts have argued could be considered war crimes.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at **U.S.** President Donald Trump’s speech at the **United Nations General Assembly**, an expanded U.S. military presence in **Greenland**, and the **European Union**’s initial free-trade deal with the **Philippines**.

Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.

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War Crimes at the U.N.?

U.S. President Donald Trump presented a damning choice during his United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) speech on Tuesday: Make a deal with Iran that “lets them rebuild” or “annihilate” the Islamic Republic. “Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” Trump posed, echoing past threats that experts have argued could be considered war crimes.

Although Trump’s warnings are not new, using the U.N. stage to deliver them brings a new dimension to the White House’s continued war of words against the institution’s human rights work.

The Trump administration has repeatedly denounced the U.N.’s justice-seeking bodies. Last Thursday, the White House rejected a U.N. fact-finding mission that found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the U.S. military committed war crimes when it launched separate strikes on an Iranian school and sports facility in February. And on Tuesday, he called the U.N. Human Rights Council “craven hypocrites” for its alleged failure to speak up against the persecution of Christians.

But he saved his toughest rhetoric for the U.N.-allied International Criminal Court (ICC). “You’re an evil group of people,” Trump said. He called on all ICC member countries to immediately resign from the “rogue institution,” which he claimed is an “anti-American,” “out-of-control” tribunal.

Condemning the United Nations in its own backyard is far from a new strategy for Trump. Last year, the U.S. president delivered a rambling, vitriolic UNGA speech that questioned the very existence of the assembly. “All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up,” Trump said at the time, though mere hours later, he claimed to support the institution’s “potential for peace.”

Trump’s address on Tuesday was more conciliatory than last year’s. Instead of lambasting the United Nations’ teleprompter and escalator blunders, Trump heralded U.S.-led reforms that slashed the institution’s annual operating budget and eliminated thousands of jobs. He was similarly more civil toward his fellow attendees, whom he called “great leaders” instead of warning that their “countries are going to hell.”

This shift in tone may be part of the White House’s strategy to address the Iran war and ensuing global energy crisis. “If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the last 51-year menace of Iranian terror, and oil prices will come plummeting down even lower than they were at the start of the conflict,” Trump said on Tuesday. Global diesel costs hit record highs on Monday following further disruptions to shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

Still, Trump made it clear that he does not need the United Nations—or the rest of the world—to accomplish his war aims. The United States will get it done “one way or the other,” Trump said, hinting that a deal with Iran could be made after the U.S. midterm elections in November.

Other major highlights of Trump’s UNGA speech included condemnation of the Russia-Ukraine war, praise for his administration’s successful blocking of a U.N.-proposed global carbon shipping fee, and a push for further artificial intelligence advancements. He celebrated a looming oil deal with Venezuela, discrediting past U.S. claims that material gain was not a rationale for foreign interventions. He hailed deadly U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats, calling cartels “the ISIS of the Wester