“All I got from the U.N. was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle and a teleprompter that didn’t work,” Trump told the crowd on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The White House<\/a> called for an investigation into the escalator and teleprompter incidents after a U.N. official confirmed to the Washington Examiner<\/em> that someone on the president’s team accidentally stopped the escalator and that the White House operated the teleprompter for him.<\/p>\n

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt<\/a> shared New York Times<\/em> reporting that U.N. aides spoke about playing with the escalators for Trump, quipping the organization has no money amid a funding dispute with the United States.<\/p>\n

After Monday’s historic conference on a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian<\/a> conflict, during which France<\/a> recognized Palestinian statehood, Trump also made policy news on Tuesday when he announced his new belief that Ukraine is “in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”<\/p>\n

Hudson Institute Center on Europe and Eurasia Director Peter Rough described Trump’s “superpower” as being able to bring attention to “wherever he is and whatever he is talking about, not just this week.”<\/p>\n

“The teleprompter and escalator incidents served as the perfect metaphor for the U.N.,” Rough told the Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Nile Gardiner, Heritage Foundation Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom director, agreed, contending that Trump is “the unquestionable leader of the free world” and “the reality is only the U.S. president has the power, frankly, to move the world on key issues.”<\/p>\n

“The questions the White House are raising, I mean, they’re important because the United Nations is a world body that is riddled with inefficiency, corruption, mismanagement, and so if you have an escalator that doesn’t work and a teleprompter that doesn’t work, they are symbols of an organization that has really broken down and has lost its way,” Gardiner told the Washington Examiner<\/em>. “It’s important for the U.S. as the biggest funder of the United Nations to expect accountability, and that includes ensuring everything works properly and that its officials are actually doing their jobs.”<\/p>\n

A European diplomatic source told the Washington Examiner<\/em>: “The U.N. is the least bad entity that has somewhat universal credibility to resolve, intervene, take a view on international problems. It’s full of flaws, but you couldn’t make it again. You can’t imagine starting from scratch and getting the Chinese, Russian, Iranian, Danish in agreement on a better entity.<\/p>\n

“Our longstanding focus has been – don’t burn it down, but reform it – and in many ways, the Trump message was a good wake-up call. It’s one of these entities like the European Commission that has its own culture, traditions, and some holier than thou zealots who preside over the organization. It’s so invested in itself that it’s hard to take a cold impartial view of itself.<\/p>\n

“So in that sense, such a stark message from the president should be a wake-up call to the institution and the countries that support it.<\/p>\n

“But it’s easy to break stuff. Fixing things or building it is much harder. What is [UN ambassador] Mike Waltz’s remit? Can we expect meaningful U.S. engagement in a root and branch reform process, or not? It’s important to notice Trump stopped short of defunding the entity, highlighting the potential it has, and the next question is – what’s the solution? How do we get it better?”<\/p>\n

The source continued: “Personally, I thought it was quite helpful to raise migration. Migration is something western electorates care about great deal about, so if this organization doesn’t care about it, or is actively supporting it in some cases, it’s not helpful.<\/p>\n

“From a cold, strategic point of view, as poor performing as it can be on issues, it’s not in America’s interest strategically to not have the U.N. You open spaces for all kinds of other autocratic actors around the world to act with more impunity.”<\/p>\n

However, Brookings Institution Defense and Strategy Chairman Michael O’Hanlon criticized Trump’s address as “destructive.”<\/p>\n

“Completely off kilter because it was way too sweeping and deliberately insulting, unlike his peacemaker mode this past summer,” O’Hanlon told the Washington Examiner.<\/em> “That’s my take.”<\/p>\n

In the room, Trump’s comments regarding immigration<\/a>, particularly his claims that London<\/a> wants to implement Sharia law, drew murmurs in the audience.<\/p>\n

“I appear to be living rent-free inside Donald Trump’s head,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the BBC overnight. “President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic, and he is Islamophobic. When people say things, when people act in a certain way, when people behave in a certain way, you’ve got to believe them.”<\/p>\n

Of Trump’s comments regarding Europe, including his insistence that it should “end the failed experiment of open borders,” a senior European diplomat told the Washington Examiner <\/em>that she was more focused on the president acknowledging “the potential of the U.N.”<\/p>\n

“He mentioned Europe multiple times,” she said. “This I take as evidence that the U.S. is ready to engage with its closest ally. There are things we have already done, like a trade deal<\/a>. There are things where the EU moved much faster on support for Ukraine and sanctions<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

A U.N. official downplayed Trump’s, in Rough’s words, “superpower” due to the matters that the organization grapples with every day.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been watching these for more than 30 years, and each session has something dramatic or noteworthy going on,” the official told the Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Brett Schaefer, Trump brought “attention to the U.N.,” but he also underscored its “problems.”<\/p>\n

“That is what this administration wants to do, and it achieved it,” Schaefer told the Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Schaefer added that Trump’s address to the U.N. “went as expected,” with the president citing his typical list of perceived domestic policy accomplishments, including the border<\/a> and the economy<\/a>, before turning to foreign affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“He boasted about helping resolve multiple conflicts around the world and joked about deserving the Nobel Peace Prize<\/a>,” Schaefer told the Washington Examiner <\/em>of Trump. “He warned that Iran<\/a> must never have a nuclear weapon and made clear that military force remained an option. He called on Russia to end the war in Ukraine and urged Europe to join the U.S. in adopting sanctions on Russian energy. He expressed support for Israel and criticized governments recognizing a Palestinian state as a reward for Hamas<\/a> and, instead, said they should demand the immediate release of all the hostages. These are important messages that needed to be emphasized.”<\/p>\n

“The U.N. was criticized heavily for not supporting his peace efforts and making matters worse on migration and climate change<\/a>. … It would have been a perfect opportunity for him to summarize his ideas for reform of the organization, but those details were not expressed,” he added.<\/p>\n

The White House has defended Trump’s address, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> calling it an “incredible speech.”<\/p>\n

“He’s setting the model for the free world,” Rubio wrote on social media. “Strong borders and energy dominance<\/a> are what make America great. Every nation must stand against unmitigated immigration disasters and fake energy catastrophes.”<\/p>\n

TRUMP GOES SCORCHED EARTH ON UN AND ACCUSES IT OF NOT BEING FIT FOR PURPOSE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In an interview on Fox News, Leavitt amplified Trump’s address as an expression of “tough love,” as he “took a sledgehammer to the failing globalist world order.”<\/p>\n

“How do you make sure that you are a sovereign state, not just being a decaying nation-state because of the globalist world order?” she said. “You have strong borders and a robust domestic energy production<\/a> and law and order within your own country. Those are all things the president is obviously doing here, and it was so great to see him just speak truth to power in front of the entire world today in New York City.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n