Mr. Secretary-General, First Lady of the United States, distinguished delegates, ambassadors, and fellow leaders: it’s my great honor to welcome you as we celebrate 250 years of freedom. Two and a half centuries after the cause of liberty found its home on this continent, I can report to you with pride that America is back, and our country is stronger today than ever before.

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Our economy is the envy of the world, our military is the most powerful on earth, our technology is second to none, and we are leading in virtually everything. Our energy is fueling the planet. America is rising, our nation is growing, our power is expanding, our country is doing better than ever before, and our future is very bright.

Since I took office, we have created more than 1 million new private-sector jobs, and more Americans are working today, by far, than ever before. Last week, it was announced that the poverty rate reached its lowest level in American history. We lifted 1.5 million Americans out of poverty last year alone. Another record. The African American and Hispanic American poverty rates are at all-time lows. Real household incomes for Americans have soared to the highest level in history, $87,000 on average, surpassing the prior record that I set in my first term.

From day one, my administration has worked to remove every single unnecessary regulation and obstacle to doing business in America. We passed the largest tax cuts in American history, and as a result, more money is being invested in the United States right now than has ever been invested in any nation anywhere in the world. U.S. stock markets have set 80 all-time records, and that’s just in the last 12 months. We’ve secured commitments for $21 trillion in new investments from all over the planet, compared to less than $1 trillion in four years under the previous administration. Two years ago our country was dead, and now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world.

Before I took office, we had the worst and most dangerous border on earth. Now we have the most secure border in American history. No one comes in unless they are invited and have permission. In the past 16 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States, and that’s done by sophisticated people. [Unclear.] Zero.

As a result, last year we achieved the largest drop in violent crime ever recorded. The murder rate has plummeted to its lowest level in 125 years, since the year 1900. I sent our crime busters into Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and crime in each place went down over 80% and is still going down. When I arrived on January 20 of last year, Washington, D.C., was riddled with crime, and now crime is down 87%. We are going for 100%. If you take a look, and I guess a lot of you have been there, tourism is thriving, restaurants are bustling, and people are proud of our nation’s capital. They are proud like never before.

We’ve invested in the United States military, and in this term it will be $1.5 trillion. We turned it into the Golden Age of America. The entire world is being lifted by the wealth, strength, spirit, and momentum of a newly energized and very powerful United States of America.

Just as we moved quickly to address problems we inherited at home, we have acted with decisiveness and speed to reshape the world’s problems that have plagued us for far too long. Every leader in this room, and there are many great leaders, I know many of you very well, knows that we are given only a short period of time to make this world better, safer, and more prosperous for our children and for the people on earth, and we have to take advantage of it.

As president of the most extraordinary nation in history, I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day. I don’t believe in letting problems fester. They only become harder to solve. While others have talked, I have acted. While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace. While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them. While others have talked of courage, America has shown it. While others promise strength, I use it to make America the most powerful country in the world.

Working with many nations in this room, we are solving decades of challenges, and we are settling years of unfinished business, and doing it well.

There’s no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death, carnage, and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more.

From the first day I entered the political arena, I have been unwavering: I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Upon taking office last year, I opened negotiations in which I offered them economic cooperation in exchange for ending their nuclear program. They refused. That was a big mistake. In Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. military obliterated their nuclear program beneath mounds of rubble.

Again, I urged them to make a deal, and again they refused. The regime continued building a vast missile and drone stockpile that threatened the security of every American service member in the region, and everyone else in the region. They made a missile that was capable of hitting Europe, and they were proud of it. I hope the Europeans realize that. Iran’s goal was to complete their mad dash to a nuclear bomb behind this conventional ballistic shield. If they succeeded, they knew that any attempt to stop them would face nuclear annihilation.

We marked the 25th anniversary of September 11, which killed 2,000 people just a few miles from here. An unbelievably terrible time. We will mark the third anniversary of the October 7 attack in Israel, where terrorists funded by Iran tortured, mutilated, and killed 1,200 [innocent] people and babies. Iran celebrated that and called it a service to humanity. The same regime recently slaughtered people; 10,000 were killed for protesting. Imagine a vile regime empowered to carry out large-scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield. This is a reality that we had to confront, and far too many preferred to ignore it. They all ignored it. Many presidents and many others wanted to ignore it. They were unwilling to do anything about it, but they knew the problem.

After giving Iran a chance at a deal, I took action to ensure that the United States or any nation would never have to face such a nightmare, such a catastrophic problem. As a result of Operation Epic Fury, their ships are lying at the bottom of the sea. Likewise, their air force is gone. Their radar is gone. Their anti-aircraft equipment is gone. Their missile and drone manufacturing capacity is almost gone. Their economy is gone. The only thing that is not gone is inflation, which is destroying their country and is now well over 300%.

Even after we agreed to a cease-fire for nuclear discussions, Iran violated it with brazen acts of terrorism against civilians from other countries. Thank you for voting overwhelmingly to pass a resolution condemning Iran’s terrorist attacks on commercial shipping. Thank you very much. That resolution received more co-sponsors than any Security Council resolution in history.

The United States Navy has recently escorted more than 1 billion barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz. More oil is flowing than at any point since the start of the war. We are taking 22, 35, 32, and 37 ships out, respectively, every single day and every single night.

Will a deal be made with Iran, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East, or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, never giving them a chance, and drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness for generations? But I believe we will make a deal, right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to. They are waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don’t realize is that I’m not running. I did that already. I won in a landslide. We won in a giant landslide, and I will be here for two and a half years. The Republican Party is running, and I will be helping them, but I am not running. I give absolutely no credence, and will not give credence, to the election when it comes to Iran. It doesn’t even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

[Applause.] Thank you. Thank you.

The cowards and traitors would love to say the United States is low on munitions. That’s not true. We have more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using. We are building them at levels that we’ve never done before. We are adding to our stockpiles faster than we have ever been able to do before. Top of the line. In the very near future, massive munitions plants will be opening. There are 18 of them being built by the greatest defense companies in the world right now. Eighteen under construction. Some of them will very quickly be completed; they’re almost there. The rapid construction will lead to very rapid deployment of missiles of every type and ammunition of every type, and we will be able to supply our allies at a much faster rate than we are doing now.

I call on all nations to join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions, and cease their support of terror. The terrorist regime is behaving badly not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate. If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the 51-year menace of Iranian terror, and oil prices will come plummeting down, even lower than they were at the start of the conflict. They were very low in the United States. With courage and resolve, anything is possible. Big changes can happen, and happen fast.

One year ago, when I addressed the great leaders of this hall, the war in Gaza was raging brutally. The hostages were still deep in Hamas tunnels, and there was no end in sight. But here, on the sidelines of the General Assembly, we took the first steps to change everything. A few weeks later, we ended the war in Gaza, saving untold thousands of lives. We also brought home all remaining hostages, both living and dead. Every single one of them.

[Applause.] Thank you.

Everyone thought it was a miracle that we were able to do so, and people celebrated in the streets. I want to express my gratitude to the United Nations Security Council for its unanimous endorsement of our 20-point Gaza peace plan and for officially approving the Board of Peace. It’s going to be a significant group of people. Nearly 30 countries have joined the board, which I am honored to chair, and we are thankful to many of those member nations for contributing billions and billions of dollars to relief, and it goes right to rebuilding and relief. These are the countries that gave: Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and many more. The money goes to the source, where they need it. Those countries have been generous, and others are also stepping up, at numbers no one would even believe, because they want to see these people live. They want to see the humanitarian thing happen. I thank those who have committed troops and police to help stabilize Gaza, including Indonesia, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, and more.

Since I took office, it’s been my great honor to settle eight wars, and in so doing to become friendly with the leaders of many of those countries. It’s a great honor to do it. Numerous of these wars had gone on for many years, even decades. The reason I was able to make these settlements was the use of my relationships, very special relationships, to this day; trade; the use of tariffs and the threat of tariffs; and various other reasons. Among them, in terms of settlements: Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and of course the war in Gaza, which includes the return of all hostages, both living and dead.

Almost every one of these countries wrote me a letter of thanks. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, a terrific man, said that Donald Trump was responsible for saving 30 million lives, and probably many more than that. The president said President Trump did a miracle that no one thought could be done. The Prime Minister of Armenia said that this breakthrough would simply not have been possible without President Trump’s personal engagement and his resolute commitment to peace. The Prime Minister of Cambodia said my statesmanship, marked by commitment to resolving conflict and preventing catastrophic wars through visionary and innovative diplomacy, was most recently demonstrated in my decisive role in brokering an immediate and unconditional cease-fire and peace, a timely intervention which averted a devastating conflict, was vital in preventing a loss of lives, and paved the way toward the restoration of peace.

The President of Rwanda said that when President Trump saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it. The conflict had lasted for 32 years. Millions and millions of people have died. We got it settled. “We’ve seen countless mediations and efforts, but none have succeeded in resolving the underlying issues. President Donald Trump [brought] a new and effective [approach] that really brought great peace, through a breakthrough that we thought was impossible.”

We are working closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. We will get that one done. I think it will happen more quickly than people understand. They’ve had it. Twenty-five thousand young people, mostly soldiers, are dying a month. Twenty-five thousand a month. I look at those battlefield pictures, and I really don’t want to see them anymore. It’s so horrible to say. Twenty-five thousand a month, both sides. In addition, the United States and Iran will definitely get it done, one way or another. It’s going to be done, and done fast.

A lot has happened since we last gathered here one year ago. In January, at my direction, the United States military conducted a massive military operation, penetrating deep into the Venezuelan capital, onto a heavily defended and fortified military base, one that was supposed to be impervious to attack, and arrested the outlaw dictator, a criminal. Hundreds of Venezuelan political prisoners have been freed; they let them out of the jails. We are working closely with the leaders of Venezuela to forge a much better future for the Venezuelan people.

Last month we signed the largest oil deal in history, covering 65 billion barrels of oil, which will benefit Venezuela and the United States enormously and drive down the cost of energy all over the world, and that is starting to perk right now. The biggest oil companies are going in, and the numbers are absolutely incredible. When you add the United States and Venezuela together, we have more than 60% of the oil in the world. It’s perhaps the biggest deal. It was a war, but perhaps the biggest deal ever made. To the victor belong the spoils. Thank you for that.

The United States will no longer permit threats to America to gain a foothold anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. If necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States. As you know, Venezuela had the finest equipment in the world from other countries, and it did not work. It didn’t even come close to working.

For decades, other administrations allowed much of this region to be dominated by vicious gangs and bloodthirsty drug cartels, destabilized by uncontrolled migration, and infiltrated by hostile foreign adversaries, demented adversaries. Not anymore. We are reasserting American power, including American military power where necessary, in our region and around the world, to create a safer future for all of us. That’s happening quickly.

Upon taking office, I designated the drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and unleashed the United States Armed Forces to eliminate them. The cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere. Not good people. They are enemies at war with civilization, using murder, rape, torture, and extortion as instruments of terror. They should be killed, exiled, or detained as enemy combatants without the possibility of release, which is what we are doing. To that end, the United States is carrying out dozens of strikes on cartel drug boats, destroying 97% of the drugs coming in by ocean and sea. You’ve seen it. They disappear quickly. We are down 90%, 97%. No one thought that was possible. It was a big source of delivery. Three months ago, we terminated the leader of the Venezuelan gang.

Mexico is the epicenter of the cartel violence, unfortunately. It’s unacceptable for the United States to share a 2,000-mile border with territory controlled by enemy cartels. Mexico must reclaim control of its soil from the enemies of humanity.

My administration is also seeking fundamental change in the situation in Cuba, where the communist regime is under great pressure, the biggest pressure they’ve ever been under. It’s an absolutely failed state. It is failing like never before. It will fall. Marco Rubio is handling a negotiation. He’s deep in negotiations with Cuba. Let’s see what happens. We will not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep. The Cuban regime has also spent decades coordinating with left-wing radicals and communist networks here in the United States. As our State Department has detailed, they cultivated ties to subversive and radical groups such as the Communist Party USA, Antifa, and the Democratic Socialists of America.

Freedom will be coming to Cuba, and safety and security will be coming to Mexico. I’m proud to tell you that we have a relationship with the Mexican government, and they’re making great strides. They don’t want the cartels either. When that day comes, the entire region will be a better, safer, and more beautiful place in which to live and thrive.

As I announced just days ago, the United States has also reached an unprecedented agreement regarding a large and vital piece of land known as Greenland. This agreement, made with the Kingdom of Denmark and the Greenland people themselves, gives the United States permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory. We will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent, and also Europe and other places. No U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland or make investments without our written approval. We will begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations. We will be building two very major military bases. This agreement will be signed later today, and I look forward to working with the wonderful people of Denmark and Greenland. It’s a great experience. It’s an amazing experience, and we have a bond in doing it. By expanding America’s footprint, this protects Europe in addition to America, greatly protects them, and also very much enhances NATO. That has a great relationship. Mark, you are a great leader. It’s now growing stronger than ever before. NATO is doing things, including raising their number from 2% to 5%. That’s going to be much greater protection for them.

We continue to seek an end to the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine, which is killing, as I said, thousands and thousands of people every month. Last week, in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham, I signed a powerful new law providing me with [sanctions] authorities, and if necessary I will use them. It’s time to stop the killing.

I want to recognize the extraordinary work of our great First Lady, who has secured the safe return of many displaced Ukrainian and Russian children to their families. Thank you very much, First Lady.

[Applause.]

Where is our First Lady? Where is she? She’s around here someplace. Can you imagine? I can see the First Lady. Thank you very much, First Lady. Great job. She worked so hard this year. She also became the only First Lady in history to preside over a meeting of the UN Security Council. Today she is hosting a gathering of Fostering the Future Together, which has nearly 60 members, to help improve the lives of young people all over the world. So, Melania, thank you very much.

Here at the United Nations, we’ve worked with many countries in this room to implement the most sweeping UN reforms in U.S. history. We cut the UN budget for the first time ever, slashing it by 15% in 2026 and eliminating more than 4,000 positions from the UN bureaucracy. The United Nations has great potential, but it must stop imposing the far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats that no one ever elected.

Last year, my administration was forced to intervene to stop an obscure UN body, the International Maritime Organization, from secretly establishing a first-ever global carbon tax, a very expensive tax that would raise international shipping costs by 10% to 20%, and maybe even more. There is no global government, and while I’m president, there will be no global taxes.

[Applause.] Thank you. Thank you very much.

The United States is equally opposed to the out-of-control institution known as the International Criminal Court. We will never allow U.S. service members, or anyone else, to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us. I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to resign from this rogue institution immediately.

It’s equally unacceptable that, with all of the genuine atrocities in the world, the UN’s top human rights officials spend their time criticizing the United States for protecting our children from transgender insanity and for enforcing our immigration laws. It is unbelievable what they do. Yet the Human Rights Council has little to say about the persecution of Christians. Christians are being persecuted all over the world, and it’s not even believable. I never thought I’d say it. It’s been happening for a long time. They are silent about the persecution of Christians and the crimes of the world’s most repressive regimes, yet they want America to open up our borders to gangs and criminals from the world’s most dangerous places. They want the worst people to come in from the worst places, and we won’t do it anymore. We did do it, but we don’t do that anymore.

It’s deeply ironic that the United Nations has an entire institution devoted to protecting cultural heritage, but through their ceaseless promotion of mass migration, they are destroying the greatest cultures and the most extraordinary heritage in all of history. There’s no human right to illegal immigration, but there is a right to remain a sovereign nation, and we want to remain a sovereign nation. So should you.

The United States also rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control the artificial intelligence that is being spoken of so much now, which should officially be called superintelligence. The use of the word “artificial” makes the intelligence sound fake, and it’s not fake. It’s actually amazing. We have to be careful. In fact, it’s the opposite of what the name reports. From this point forward, all United States documents, and hopefully the world’s, will be changed to use a much more accurate term: “super,” as opposed to “artificial.” It’s superintelligence. In other words, welcome to the new world of superintelligence, SI. That sounds much better. It is much better and more accurate. Let’s see if I have any power. Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t. We will find out soon.

Every major new technology brings challenges. Superintelligence is no exception. And the same people who said that we would be dead in 12 years because of global warming, which has since been changed to climate change, are the people saying AI is going to kill us all, robots are going to attack us, and everything is going to be a total disaster. Same group of people. This is the group that came up with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, the Ukraine, Ukraine hoax, climate change, open borders.

Whoever wins AI, you have to remember this, and now I say whoever wins SI, and we are leading everyone by a lot, and we are going to keep it that way. We are going to keep it very straight and strong. I’m not going to stifle the growth of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution. Many say bigger than the Industrial Revolution or the Internet itself. We will be careful. We have the Department of Justice and other law enforcement bodies that will rein things in if we have to, but we will encourage superintelligence. We will encourage it, not rein it in. We will watch it closely through the Department of Justice. The United States leads the world in superintelligence, and we will continue to do so, safely and responsibly. We’ve never been a nation that retreats from a frontier, no matter how great or daunting it might be. It’s not one that we will ever, ever surrender.

It was right here in New York City that [the Declaration of Independence] was read to George Washington’s troops, as they listened to its immortal words for the first time. The patriots could see the British invasion, more than 100 ships strong, that had arrived to crush the cause of liberty. Thousands of soldiers getting off the ships. We won decisively, and those first Americans knew that it’s not enough merely to believe in great principles. We must also have the will, the courage, and the strength to defend them.

As we gather in the same city two and a half centuries later to discuss the events of our time, that’s the challenge for every nation in this room. We go forward strong and united against the enemies of all humanity. We reject the voices that would have us give in to fear and doubt. If we refuse to shrink from our duties to our people, then together, through bold action, we will make this world safer and a better place. We will leave our nations far stronger, we will grow our economies far bigger, and we will not just speak of justice here at the United Nations. We will build a future for our people that is brighter, more hopeful, and more magnificent than ever before.

Thank you. God bless the nations of the world, and God bless America. Thank you very much, everyone.

[Applause.]

PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the United States.