(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump is now delivering remarks to the United Nations General Assembly, as world leaders convene in New York for the body’s 80th session.
It is Trump’s first speech to the annual gathering since his return to office.
“Six years have passed since I last stood in this grand hall and addressed a world that was prosperous and at peace in my first term. Since that day, the guns of war have shattered the peace I forged on two continents, an era of calm and stability gave way to one of the great crises of our time,” Trump said as he opened his remarks.
Trump’s speech is expected to center on “touting renewal of American strength around the world,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.
“The president will also touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, and he will articulate his straightforward and constructive vision for the world,” Leavitt said.
Later Tuesday, Trump will participate in bilateral meetings with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina and the European Union. He will also hold a multilateral meeting with leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine war are likely to dominate the U.N. General Assembly this week.
Several prominent world leaders, including key U.S. allies such as the United Kingdom and Canada, are moving to formally recognizing Palestinian statehood as international alarm builds over Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza and an ongoing hunger crisis in Gaza.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron declared at the U.N. General Assembly that France will now recognize a Palestinian state.
“The time for peace has come,” Macron said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke virtually before the U.N. General Assembly on Monday after the Trump administration revoked his U.S. visa last month to attend the conference in person.
Abbas called on Hamas to surrender their weapons and he condemned the killings on Oct. 7, 2023. He also expressed readiness to work with Trump to implement a peace plan and called for a “permanent ceasefire.”
Trump has said he wants the war in Gaza to end, but has disagreed with other nations on the issue of Palestinian statehood.
“He feels this does not do anything to release the hostages, which is the primary goal right now in Gaza; does nothing to end this conflict and bring this war to a close,” Leavitt said on Monday.
“And frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas,” Leavitt continued. “So he believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies. And I think you’ll hear him talk about that tomorrow at the U.N.”
On the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for those gathered at U.N. General Assembly to put “strong political pressure” on Russia.
“There is a real need for strong pressure on Russia, new joint steps from everyone in the world who believes that international law must work again,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump’s expressed increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin since their summit in Alaska last month yielded no breakthroughs. Last week, Trump said thought the war would be one of the easiest global conflicts to solve “because of my relationship with President Putin.”
“But he’s let me down,” Trump said. “He’s really let me down.”
Last week, while meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the U.K., Trump signaled he could do more to pressure Russia, but said other countries need to pull back on buying Russian oil first.
“I’m willing to do other things, but not when the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia. If the oil price comes down, very simply, Russia will settle, and the oil price is way down.”
ABC News’ Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
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