Trump at UN: Annihilate Iran or Wait Past Elections — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Trump threatened to 'annihilate' Iran and 'plunge it into hell with no chance of survival' during his Sept. 22 UN General Assembly address if Iran's leaders don't reach a deal to end the war with the U.S. and Israel.
- Trump made the 'astonishing' concession that an agreement with Iran would not occur until 'right after the election' — at odds with repeated claims that an accord was imminent — and a comment that could keep gasoline and diesel prices high with midterms six weeks away.
- Trump insisted he gives 'absolutely no credence' to the election when it comes to Iran, warning Tehran not to delay hoping for a political repudiation: 'What they don't realize is that I'm not running.'
- Trump called Mexico the 'epicentre' of drug cartels and declared Cuba 'an absolutely failed state' that 'will fall'; delegates from Cuba and Iran left the room during his remarks.
- A CNN poll released before the speech showed just 29% of American adults approve of Trump's handling of foreign affairs — a 10-point drop since the start of the year and a new low — while his handling of Iran sat at 26% approval, down 7 points since the conflict began in late February.
- Much of the address reprised Trump's domestic rally rhetoric, including claims the U.S. is 'leading in virtually everything' and that he has presided over a 'golden age of America,' delivered in a tone his former-predecessor's speechwriter called unusual for a UN opening.
Why it matters: The election-timeline concession undercuts Trump's own urgency messaging on Iran while giving Tehran reason to stall through November — and high fuel prices heading into midterms are a specific risk in an environment where 71% of Americans already disapprove of his foreign policy handling.
Ask SkimNews
