General Assembly: Trump questions the relevance of UN 

In a fiery address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday questioned the organization’s relevance, accusing it of failing global responsibilities.

Standing before hundreds of world leaders, Trump described the U.N. as an institution with “tremendous potential,” but one that has consistently fallen short.

“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” he asked, adding, “They’re not even coming close to living up to that potential.”

He accused the organization of producing “empty words” through strongly worded resolutions without action.

“All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up it’s empty words.”

Trump also claimed the UN contributes to problems instead of solving them. “Not only is the U.N. not solving the problems it should, it, too often, is actually creating new problems for us to solve.”

On migration, he argued that UN programs worsen U.S. border challenges.

“The U.N. is supporting people who are illegally coming into the United States, and we have to get them out,” he said.

Despite his harsh critique, Trump highlighted U.S. successes in peace negotiations, claiming his administration had “ended seven wars” and secured agreements without UN involvement.

“The United Nations never even received a phone call offering to help in finalizing the deal,” he added.

Trump’s comments highlight his administration’s nationalist approach, skepticism of multilateral institutions, and preference for bilateral action, even as critics warn such rhetoric undermines collective responses to pressing global challenges.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported nearly 200,000 people in the first seven months following President Donald Trump’s return to office — a level not seen in over a decade. The figure underscores the aggressive scale of the administration’s enforcement actions.

The deportation surge, which ICE attributes to returning enforcement policies, is part of a broader total of nearly 350,000 deportations since Trump reclaimed office in January — including removals by ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Coast Guard, and voluntary departures.

Amid the deportation spike, ICE holds over 59,000 individuals in detention as of mid-August, many of whom have no criminal convictions. Advocates warn that overwhelmed detention centers and removal operations are creating humanitarian stress points in immigrant communities.

The deportation campaign has sparked widespread protests across U.S. cities, with demonstrators condemning the sweep as inhumane. At the same time, ICE deportation flights soared to a record 1,214 in July, with airlines reportedly masking flight details using dummy call signs — fueling concerns about transparency and accountability.