Trump threatens Iran and defends foreign policy at U.N.

Iran warning

President Donald Trump told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that he could “annihilate” Iran if diplomacy failed, while saying he expected Tehran to agree to end the war after the U.S. midterm elections. He said Iranian leaders were waiting to see how he fared in those elections, then noted that he was not a candidate.

Trump described a choice between an agreement that would allow Iran to rebuild and a rapid attack intended to prevent it from threatening other countries.

War and negotiations

The president defended his decision to start the war as an effort to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The conflict was approaching seven months. After the speech, Trump said his son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff had met with Iranian representatives during the U.N. gathering. He called it a “very good meeting” and said the outcome remained to be seen.

Broader defense

In the roughly 35-minute address, Trump portrayed his foreign policy as acting on difficult disputes that earlier U.S. leaders had not resolved. He was also pursuing an Israel-Hamas plan for Gaza and an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He was scheduled to meet the British prime minister and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy around the assembly.

Trump rejected concerns that U.S. ammunition inventories had declined. The Pentagon’s inspector general had said the previous week that the Iran war had created strategic inventory shortages. Trump also highlighted U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere, including intervention in Venezuela and the acquisition of Venezuelan oil.