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Trump addresses the UN General Assembly with the Iran conflict in its seventh month
September 22, 2026
Trump speaks to the United Nations General Assembly for the sixth time, with remarks expected on the Iran conflict and a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to follow.
Donald Trump is the president of the US, and the United Nations General Assembly is the gathering at which world leaders deliver addresses; he has spoken there in previous years.
Key facts
- Trump is set to speak at the United Nations General Assembly while the Iran war goes on, and he is expected to take up the conflict, in its seventh month, before the gathered leaders.
- Donald Trump speaks to the United Nations General Assembly for the sixth time.
- The meeting will be Rodriguez's first with Trump since the US took former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro into custody, and Maduro now sits in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial.
- Trump is also due to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the Ukrainian president said their meeting “could change a lot,” pointing to diplomatic momentum in the effort toward an energy truce with the Kremlin.
- Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, is also at the UN, which is likely to sharpen Trump's political dilemma.
The Guardian reports that Trump goes before the United Nations General Assembly with the Iran war still running, and that his political dilemma sharpens with Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, also at the UN; NBC News carries that point as well. NBC News reports that the president is expected to take up the conflict, in its seventh month, in what he tells world leaders, and CNN and The Guardian carry the same. CNN reports that this is his sixth address to the assembly, a point NBC News and The Guardian both carry. The New York Times places the speech in a moment of tumult.
NBC News reports that Trump blamed the UN for the escalator and hinted at deliberate sabotage meant to humiliate him, while UN officials said the White House's videographer “may have inadvertently triggered the safety function” on the escalator. CNN and The Guardian carry that account too. The Guardian also describes a strange run of posts on social media before the address that left the world guessing.
NBC News reports that Trump is due to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has said their meeting could change a lot and who points to diplomatic momentum in the effort toward an energy truce with the Kremlin, and CNN carries the planned meeting as well. NBC News reports that a first meeting with Rodriguez follows the US capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who sits in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial, and The Guardian carries that too. The address and the meetings around it are corroborated across the accounts; what Trump says to world leaders, and what comes of the meeting with Zelenskyy, is not yet in the coverage.
UN officials said the White House's videographer “may have inadvertently triggered the safety function” on the escalator, and Trump blamed the UN for it, hinting at deliberate sabotage meant to humiliate him.
U.N. officials
Still developing
The remarks Trump delivers to world leaders on the Iran conflict are still ahead of him, as is his expected meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on an energy truce with the Kremlin.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- NBC News — Live updates: Trump to speak at the U.N. General Assembly
- The Guardian — Trump’s bizarre social media blitz leaves world guessing ahead of UN address
- CNN — Live updates: Trump to speak at United Nations General Assembly
Toggle read the full reports of 3 of the 4 outlets counted on this event. The other 1 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.