For full coverage of the developments at the UN general assembly today go to our wrap of events:
Summary
The speeches are still ticking along – Paraguay is at the podium right now and 15 other countries are in line – but as the evening approaches in New York, here’s a look at where things stand:
- Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, was critical of Trump through the duration of his speech, at one point criticizing leaders who: “ride public sentiments and gain popular support through the fomenting of extremist nationalism and racism” and through what he called “xenophobic tendencies resembling a Nazi disposition.”
- France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, declared his opposition to protectionist, isolationist policies and advocated for policies that combat inequality. “I think that we’re seeing a crisis of the very foundations of today’s world,” Macron said. “We’re losing our benchmarks and our modes of functioning.”
- Macron also said countries should “stop signing trade agreements with those who don’t comply with the Paris agreement.”
- Trump was more measured than last year, when he threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea, but his remarks still challenged the US’s traditional at the UN, with the president sharing a “manifesto for nativism.”
- His speech emphasized US sovereignty. And said the US will “We are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us, who frankly are our friends.” It also got the only laughs of the morning from the general assembly, when he said his administration had accomplished more than any other in less than two years.
- At a luncheon following his speech, Trump said: “When I first came here, even though I lived in New York, it was a little bit of a foreign territory to me, the United Nations. But now it’s like home.”
- UN secretary general, António Guterres, opened his speech by warning that the world is suffering from “trust deficit disorder.”
The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, writes from UN headquarters in New York on the open derision Trump faced in the general assembly hall.
While most leaders have used their time on the UN stage to list the agreements they have made, the protocols agreed and treaties signed, Trump clearly delighted in telling the world how many such pieces of paper he had ripped up.
The lead writer of the speech was reportedly Stephen Miller, now the primary bridge between the White House and the American far right. It showed. The address was a manifesto for nativism.
Any remaining pretense of altruism was stripped away from this vision of US foreign policy, and in its place was a strong tinge of resentment and self-pity.
Trump observed that the US was the world’s biggest aid donor, “but few give anything to us”.
“Moving forward, we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends,” he warned.
The AP has a report on Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s remarks at the general debate this morning.
Rouhani accused the Trump administration of violating “state obligations” from the Obama administration by withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with the US and five other major powers.
“On what basis and criteria can we enter into an agreement with an administration misbehaving such as this?” Rouhani asked. “It is ironic that the US government does not even conceal its plan for overthrowing the same government it invites to talks.”
In remarks released while Rouhani was still talking, National Security Adviser John Bolton doubled down on the decision to withdraw from the deal, echoing his president’s strong language and using blunt language to dismiss any entreaties from Tehran. He called the scrapped Iran deal “the worst diplomatic debacle in American history.”
“According to the mullahs in Tehran, we are ‘the Great Satan,’ lord of the underworld, master of the raging inferno,” Bolton said in remarks prepared for delivery at a New York meeting convened to oppose Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“So, I might imagine they would take me seriously when I assure them today: If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens; if you continue to lie, cheat, and deceive, yes, there will indeed be HELL to PAY,” Bolton said.
The capitalizations were included in the text of the quotes released to journalists.
Rouhani, in his general assembly remarks, laid into leaders who believe they can “ride public sentiments and gain popular support through the fomenting of extremist nationalism and racism” and through what he called “xenophobic tendencies resembling a Nazi disposition.”
The morning session of the general debate has adjourned.
And the afternoon session has begun after a break that lasted a couple minutes.
Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Donald Trump also spoke at a luncheon hosted by the UN secretary general today, where he said the United Nations “was like home” to him.
I think we’re an example – certain things we’re doing now toward world peace. We’re truly a direct – has a direct relationship to the time I spent at the United Nations, meeting some of you. Many of you are now friends.
When I first came here, even though I lived in New York, it was a little bit of a foreign territory to me, the United Nations. But now it’s like home. But so many great people, so many great leaders in this room. And a lot of terrific things are happening.
We covered, as you know, during my speech, North Korea. Last year, my tone was somewhat different on North Korea than it is right now. Tremendous progress has been made. And I think you’re going to see an outcome. As the expression goes, “Who knows?” But I think you’re going to see a very, very great outcome.
I hope that, eventually, some of the other countries that we have conflict with – if not war-like conflict, trade conflict, other types of conflict – a lot of those problems will disappear, I think, by next year.
Rouhani says the most pressing crisis in the Middle East is the Israel-Palestine conflict.
He then emphasizes Iran is not interested in war with any country.
“Iran does not need an empire. Iran is an empire in terms of its civilization and culture, not political domination.”
He goes on to explain Iran’s history of combatting terrorism.
Rouhani ends his speech: “The world will not have a better friend than Iran, if peace is what you seek.”
Rouhani continues: “unlawful, unilateral sanctions in themselves constitute a form of economic terrorism.”
He says the US policy with Iran “has been wrong from the beginning.”
“No state and nation can be brought to the negotiation table by force and if so what follows is the accumulation of the grapes of wrath ... to be reaped later by the oppressors.”
“If you dislike the JCPOA [Iran nuclear agreement] because it is the legacy of your domestic political rivals,” then you are invited back to the negotiation table, says Rouhani.
“For dialogue to take place, there is no need for a photo opportunity,” Rouhani says, explaining that he is starting a dialogue at that moment from the UN podium.
“Our proposal is clear, commitment for commitment. Violation for violation. Threat for threat. And step for step. Instead of talk for talk.”
Rouhani: challenging multilateralism is 'symptom of weakness of intellect'
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, says his remarks come “as the world is suffering from recklessness and disregard of some states for international values and institutions”
Rouhani doesn’t use Donald Trump’s name, but seems to be taking a direct hit at Trump’s administration and says its policies resemble “a Nazi disposition”
He said the “illusion” must end that security and peace are possible by denying those things to others.
“Confronting multilateralism is not a sign of strength, rather it is a symptom of a weakness of intellect,” Rouhani says.
For those doubting that these comments were directed at Trump, Rouhani has moved on to talk about the Iran nuclear agreement and the US’s exit from it.
“We are pleased that the international community did not acquiesce to the US’s illegal and unilateral withdrawal from that agreement.”
Updated
Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is speaking about the Syrian conflict.
“We are facing a humanitarian, moral and legal catastrophe,” he says.
He also reaffirmed Qatar’s support for Yemen’s independence and for the conflict to end. He appealed for help from the international community “to address the grave humanitarian situation.”
Qatar is prioritizing the fight against terrorism, he said. To end the war on terrorism, he said standards for fighting terrorism need to be unified and its roots and causes need to be addressed.
Summary
The are still seven countries to go in the morning session of the general debate, including Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani.
We’ll continue providing updates, but here is a look at where things are so far:
- UN secretary general, António Guterres, opened his speech by warning that the world is suffering from “trust deficit disorder.” His speech – which touched on climate change, migration and gender equality – seemed to be a veiled hit at Donald Trump, whose isolationist policies contradict the work of the United Nations.
- Trump ran late, ceding his second speaker slot to Ecuador. His remarks were more measured than last year, when he threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea, but he still presented a very different version of the US’s role in the global order.
- His speech emphasized US sovereignty. And said the US will “We are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us, who frankly are our friends.” It also got the only laughs of the morning from the general assembly, when he said his administration had accomplished more than any other in less than two years.
- Trump was preceded by Brazil’s president, Michel Temer, who warned in his final speech to the general assembly: “old forms of intolerance are being rekindled.”
- France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, declared his opposition to protectionist, isolationist policies and advocated for policies that combat inequality. “I think that we’re seeing a crisis of the very foundations of today’s world,” Macron said. “We’re losing our benchmarks and our modes of functioning.”
Jordan’s king, Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, begins by saying too many people are victims of inequality and that global terror is “the third world war.”
“All our countries benefit when we unite in common cause,” he says.
He is advocating a two state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict. “We cannot give up because the task is hard, because what is the alternative?”
He also spoke about the refugee crisis, which has disproportionately impacted Jordan, where 89 of every 1,000 residents are refugees.
He said it could not be addressed without help from major countries.
Emmanuel Macron’s speech to the UN was a pointed rebuke to Donald Trump’s worldview in several areas – protectionism, globalism – but the French president’s comments on climate change stood out, writes Guardian environment reporter, Oliver Milman.
Macron said countries should “stop signing trade agreements with those who don’t comply with the Paris agreement.” Given the US is the only nation on the planet to say it wants to exit the landmark climate pact, it is quite clear where Macron is aiming this jab.
Some environment groups have called for the US to be shunned if it leaves the global effort to avoid dangerous climate change and Macron’s comments will likely lead to pressure on other governments to isolate America in areas like trade to spur it to rejoin the international community.
Last year, Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Paris agreement, which commits nations to avoid breaching a global temperature rise of 2C. Due to notice periods, however, the US won’t actually leave the deal until 2020.
Peru’s president, Martin Vizcarra Cornejo, makes his first address to the general assembly - six months after he took office.
Vizcarra Cornejo speaks about Peru’s support of the UN’s anti-corruption measures.
“We will promote determined action by the general assembly for all states to fight corruption,” he says.
He said Peru also supports efforts to combat climate change. “We all have the moral obligation to protect our planet for future generations.”
The decline in Turkish-US relatons was laid bare today when the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a strong assault on President Donald Trump’s rhetoric of force and unilateralism, writes the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour.
Speaking immediately after Trump’s call for patriotism, Erdoğan warned the world will not be able to survive the arbitrary use of sanctions.
Erdoğan had met Trump briefly ahead of his speech – the first meeting since the two leaders fell out over Turkey’s detention of the US pastor Andrew Brunson.
Trump had personally interevened to seek his release, but has been rebuffed, leading to US sanctions.
Erdogan said “None of us can remain silent to the arbitrary cancellation of
commercial agreements and the use of economic sanctions as weapons,” adding that “we are in favor of solving our problems through conducting a constructive dialogue on equal terms.”
Erdogan criticised countries that use the “rhetoric of threat, force” and which “disregard the history of bilateral relations”. “We must all work together to prevent damage to the world trade regime,” he said
Erdoğan’s remarks underline the deepening tensions with the US, pushing Turkey, a Nato member, closer to Russia, and in the Middle East to Qatar.
Seychelles president, Danny Faure, is speaking extensively about climate change.
He says his island see the “stark realities” of climate change every day.
The Seychelles supports the African Union’s call for a review and reform of the security council, he says.
“Our nation was formed by the ocean,” Faure says. “We are acutely aware of the threat it poses with climate change.”
Macron has spoken for three times as long as the UN’s advised, but not enforced, 15 minute speech limit.
“All of this happens because we turn our heads and remain complacent,” Macron says.
“My county has made a lot of mistakes, but it is a country that at every turn in its history ... has thought of universality,” Macron says.
“Don’t accept our history unraveling,” he says.
The White House has published Donald Trump’s full remarks to the United Nations here.
America’s policy of principled realism means we will not be held hostage to old dogmas, discredited ideologies, and so-called experts who have been proven wrong over the years, time and time again. This is true not only in matters of peace, but in matters of prosperity.
We believe that trade must be fair and reciprocal. The United States will not be taken advantage of any longer.
“Think about the gaps in GDP,” Macron says. “If we want to create stability and balance, this state of inequality must be addressed.”
Macron says combatting inequality is the priority of the French presidency.
“It is here, from this podium, that I wanted to share with you that tackling inequalities will be at the heart of the G7’s mission,” he says.
“We must attack inequalities of fate if you like,” he says. “It is not acceptable anymore that an individual would have lesser opportunity because of where they are born, or their gender.”
Macron says we must take action on climate, demographic and technological challenges.
He says he doesn’t believe in complete openness when it comes to migration, but also doesn’t believe in closing borders. He says the only way to create an effective solution for the modern migration crisis is to address the root causes of migration and dismantling trafficking networks.
He issues support for the global migration compact, which every members state except the US and Hungary are a part of.
“Friends, I deeply believe in the sovereignty of people,” Macron says.
“In the 21st century, we should only triumph through bolstered multilateralism,” he says.
“My point is: I don’t believe in generalized or empty globalization. I don’t think this can be a reality. But I believe in universal values. That’s what should guide us. Those are two different things.”
Now for the obligatory Trump reference. Macron says: “Even in the face of certain nationalism, which we are seeing today, brandishing sovereignty as a way of attacking others. Here today, even those who might criticize it, we have all benefited from the way global order is structured around globalization.”
He says rising nationalism is happening because the underlying issues of inequality haven’t been addressed.
Macron is zeroing in on areas where he sees protectionism and isolationism creating problems.
“What can resolve the crisis between Israel and Palestine? Surely, not unilateral initiatives,” Macron says.
“We should all stand ready to go beyond our historical positions, to think out of the box, with the real goal of this leading to positive change on the ground.”
Macron says “the law of the strongest” will only exacerbate conflict and violence.
He says a “new balance” must be struck on three principles:
- upholding sovereignty
- enhancing regional cooperation
- providing more robust international safeguards
Macron: the foundations of today's world in crisis
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, is at the podium.
“Everyone here today inherits hope,” he begins.
“It’s time to take a fresh look at today’s world,” Macron says.
“This world order failed in regulating itself, economic, financial, environmental and climatic issues remain pending to date,” Macron says. “It failed because our collective ability to tackle these crisis is far too often hampered by divisions on the security council.”
He says the UN could be a “symbol of powerlessness,” and world leaders must stop this from happening.
“I think that we’re seeing a crisis of the very foundations of today’s world. We’re losing our benchmarks and our modes of functioning. This is not a historical parenthesis.”
He says unilateralism is the source of the issues.
Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, is up. His presidential term ends in November.
Nieto says democracy is strengthening in Mexico, but concedes: “We recognize that our country is still facing major challenges for human rights.”
Nieto says he is concerned that the world is reversing trends and heading back to systems such as isolationism and protectionism that he believed were in the past.
Nieto mentions repeatedly his support for nuclear disarmament. “At the same time, we reiterate the call for compliance with security council resolutions for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he says.
He ends by bidding goodbye to the security council for good.
“This organization is our best evidence that is worth fighting for a more peaceful, safe world,” Nieto says.
Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, speaks about the relationship between the African Union and United Nations.
“The theme for this year’s general debate is making the United Nations relevant to all people,” Kagame says.
But he says the “two track” system of making decisions does not account for every countries’ needs.
“If you get the ones to define the norms by which others should be judged, but standards that do not apply to everyone equally are not universal,” Kagame says.
He said international institutions will have “renewed legitimacy” if this is adjusted.
Erdoğan talks about Turkey being one of the top global providers of humanitarian aid.
He also speaks about how Turkey is home to 2.6 million refugees.
“Our world needs global leadership and joint responsibility more than ever,” he says.
He calls on countries to commit to “more sincere” plans to help resolve conflicts across the US. And warns that safety inside a country’s borders is not possible without working to peace and stability for all.
Erdoğan demands extradition of terrorists, specifically the man he claims is behind the attempted military coup on his government in 2016: Fethullah Gülen.
Gülen is in self-exile in Pennslyvania.
“I invite you to mobilize your efforts to fight Fethullah’s presence in your country,” Erdoğan says.
Erdoğan is now condemning isolationism.
There was a notable absence in Trump’s speech: Russia.
Trump at the UN.
— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) September 25, 2018
Good places: India, Saudi Arabia and Poland.
Not Good places: Iran, friends of Iran, Nicaragua, Germany, China, OPEC countries, Syria, countries that don't respect America.
Places not spoken about: Russia.
For a president and national security advisor who keep touting sovereignty, there was a notable absence of Russia from the #UNGA speech. (Georgia and Ukraine might have something to say about how Russia views sovereignty)
— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) September 25, 2018
Updated
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is on stage.
Trump might be gone, but Erdoğan quickly makes a veiled comment directed at the US president, criticizing governments that ignore the suffering of Palestinians and have withdrawn aid to help them. The US said it would end funding to the UN’s program for Palestinian refugees earlier this month.
These countries, he says, “are only increasing the courage of the oppressors.”
Given Trump’s attack on global governance and cooperation, and the US withdrawal from key United Nations programs, his speech takes an unexpected turn as he praises the diversity at the United Nations.
He calls the UN a “beautiful constellation of nations.”
Trump says: “There is the heart of a patriot that feels the same powerful love for your nation. The same intense loyalty to your homeland. The passion that burns in the hearts of patriots and the souls of nations has inspired reform and revolution.”
He continues: “To unleash this incredible potential in our people, we must defend the foundations that make it possible.”
“We must protect our soveirngty and our cherished independence above all. When we do, we will find new avenues for cooperation unfolding before us. We will find new passion for peacemaking rising within us. We will find new purpose, new resolve.”
“Let us come here to this place, to stand for our people and their nations. Forever strong, forever sovereign, forever just and forever grateful for the grace and goodness of God.”
He ends: “God bless the nations of the world.”
Updated
Trump: US will only give foreign aid to 'friends'
Trump says the US is the bigger provider of foreign aid, but its not fair because the US doesn’t get money back.
He announces that US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, will be reviewing its foreign aid contributions.
“We are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us, who frankly are our friends,” Trump says.
Trump now using #UNGA speech to say that U.S. will only give foreign aid to "our friends" who "respect us." Pompeo to lead. Luckily, Congress will have a big say in this process. Both Republicans and Democrats have previously said that this sort of thing is a non-starter.
— Rob Berschinski (@RobBerschinski) September 25, 2018
Trump is back to migration.
He says the US respects other country’s migration policies and expects them to do the same.
He reaffirms that the US will no longer participate in the United Nations migration pact.
“Currently we are witnessing a human tragedy, as an example, in Venezuela,” says Trump.
Trump attacks Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro by calling for an end to socialism.
Updated
Trump’s tone is measured, but his comments still mark a dramatic departure from the US’s traditional role at the United Nations.
Trump at #UNGA "America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism."
— Julian Borger (@julianborger) September 25, 2018
In what may have been the entire portion of Trump's #unga speech detailing the strategy underlying current U.S. foreign policy, Trump labeled it "principled realism." He didn't really define the term, other than saying that it's the opposite of "experts," who get things wrong.
— Rob Berschinski (@RobBerschinski) September 25, 2018
That sucking sound you hear is the last bits of US soft power evaporating through the ceilings of the UN General Assembly.
— Mark Leon Goldberg (@MarkLGoldberg) September 25, 2018
Trump: 'America is governed by Americans'
Now Trump is condemning the UN human rights council for “shielding human rights abusers” while criticizing the US.
The US quit the human rights council in June.
“America is governed by Americans,” Trump says.
He attacked the International Criminal Court (ICC) and now the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
He gets another laugh, for saying OPEC is taking advantage of the US “and I don’t like it.”
Updated
“The US will not be taken advantage of any longer,” Trump says, taking aim at China.
Trump’s tone is unusually measured but another bump comes as he talks about foreign products sold in the US, before going back down to talk about trade deficits.
“We will not allow our workers to be victimized,” Trump says.
For those who missed the general assembly laughing after Trump touted his administration’s successes in his opening remarks, here’s the video:
Updated
Trump’s tone is picking up slightly as he speaks about Iran, which he says has a “bloody agenda.”
Trump says Iran’s leaders “do not respect their neighbors or borders or the sovereign rights of nations.”
And he accuses Iran’s leaders of plundering resources for their own gain.
He condemns “the horrible 2015 nuclear deal” and calls on other countries to completely isolate Iran.
Now on to the Middle East.
Trump touts successes in stopping the “bloodthirsty killers of Isis.”
He says the US will respond if Syria uses chemical weapons.
He then thanks Jordan and other neighboring countries for housing refugees, a point to back his interest in keeping refugees out of the US.
Trump thanks Kim Jong-un
Trump touts US engagement with North Korea, a country which he threatened to “totally destroy” in this forum last year.
He says nuclear testing has stopped, hostages have been released, and missiles are no longer flying across North Korea’s border with South Korea.
He then thanks North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, “for his courage and the steps he has taken.”
He then offers gratitude to the presidents of South Korea, Japan and China.
US president Donald Trump has arrived.
“Today I stand before the United Nations general assembly to share the extraordinary progress we made,” he says.
He says his administration has accomplished in less than two years more than any other administration.
There’s a slight rumbling in the hall, then he pauses to say “it’s true,” resulting in the first big laugh of the day from the foreign dignitaries.
Trump is measured, and says the US will always choose independence over global governance.
“The United States will not tell you how to live, work and worship,” Trump says. “We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return.”
Updated
Donald Trump has been busy at the UN general assembly ahead of his remarks today.
Yesterday, the US president announced he would hold a second summit with the “very open and terrific” North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
Those compliments are a remarkable turnaround from Trump’s first appearance at the UN general assembly last year, when he hurled insults at Kim and threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea.
Here’s a look at what led to the change of course and the reaction to the planned second summit:
Back to Ecuador’s Lenin Moreno Garcés, who has called on the US to end its blockade on Cuba.
He is also speaking extensively about migration, saying that people flee because they have no choice.
His country has seen more than 547,000 Venezuelans enter since January to escape rampant crime and political violence, a collapsing economy and severe shortages of food and medicines.
“We know that world peace is a duty that remains pending,” Moreno Garcés said.
“There won’t be any peace unless we preserve our planet,” he says.
“There won’t be peace unless we celebrate inclusion.”
Donald Trump is in the building. Senior White House advisor, Stephen Miller, is by his side.
Trump says “Despite requests, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani,” at #unga. “Maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man!” Maybe we’ll have a chance to ask @realDonaldTrump today whether he was joking about the last bit.
— Anne Rumsey Gearan (@agearan) September 25, 2018
"Iran has to change its tune before I meet with them," President Trump said upon entering the United Nations ahead of UNGA speech
— Aaron Katersky (@AaronKatersky) September 25, 2018
Moreno Garcés explains his countries operating plan called “whole life.”
This starts by taking care of mothers and children, improving education and job prospects and supporting adults, he says.
He speaks about his childhood in the Amazon and how he and his peers would envision ways they could climb out of poverty.
And then about being shot twenty years ago, and how even that painful incident was not entirely good and not entirely bad.
“From this wheelchair, I see through the eyes of the heart,” he says.
Moreno Garcés says seeing “horizontally” gives him a closer eye to people who are discriminated against.
He calls for improved accessibility for people with disabilities, one of the seven priorities for this general assembly and improving treatment of other groups that are discriminated against.
Ecuador’s president, Lenin Moreno Garcés, is at the podium.
This slot was meant for Donald Trump, but he appears to be running late. So, Garcés has been bumped up in the schedule.
Fun fact:
Trump not the first president to miss his speaking slot at the UN. Obama was late during his last speech in 2016 so they moved on to the president of Chad
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) September 25, 2018
Updated
Temer warns about issues with human trafficking, drug trafficking and other forms of transnational crime.
“That can only be effectively tackled through concerted policies and actions,” Temer says.
Temer acknowledges this is the last time he will be speaking in the general assembly because the country’s presidential election is in two weeks.
“An alternation in power is the very essence of democracy,” Temer says.
“I will hand over the presidency to my successor with the peace of mind of having fulfilled my duty,” he says.
He says Brazil is a “much better” country than it was before he took office.
And ends by saying Brazil will always be a country that supports more dialogue, more international solidarity and multilateralism.
Temer is speaking about the global migration crisis.
“It is our duty to protect them and this is the purpose of the global compact on migration,” he says.
He highlights mass migration in South America, where people are fleeing Venezuela at such a high rate the UN has warned it could be comparable to the Mediterranean refugee crisis.
The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, writes from the United Nations on Donald Trump’s latest tweet.
In the early morning message, Trump made a personal rapprochement to Hassan Rouhani, saying he was sure that the Iranian president was an “absolutely lovely man”.
A few minutes before 7am on the first day of a UN general assembly summit, Trump claimed to have been asked to meet Rouhani, but politely declined.
“Despite requests, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man!” Trump wrote, in stark contrast to unceasingly hostile rhetoric directed towards the Iranian leadership up to now by the president and his administration.
The Iranian mission to the UN quickly issued a statement insisting “Iran has not requested a meeting”.
Updated
Temer: 'Old forms of intolerance being rekindled'
Brazil’s embattled president, Michael Temer, begins by asking how many people have been in this forum and called for an improved global order.
He continues to say it is an important question to ask as: “the challenge is to the integrity of the current international order are many.”
Temer says isolationsim is on the rise and “old forms of intolerance are being rekindled.”
Meanwhile, he says, Brazil is not being isolationist, touting all the countries its government has been working with.
Updated
Some early reaction to Guterres’s speech:
I’m gonna guess Guterres’ speech - like that of any good UNSYG - would be a giant troll of Trump, intended or not https://t.co/yTH6QYeHEU
— Michael Fuchs (@mikehfuchs) September 25, 2018
UN Sec Gen's speech, like the speech he delivered last year, offered a devastating broadside against the Trump vision of world affairs -- and without effort mentioning Trump by name
— columlynch (@columlynch) September 25, 2018
While Trump prepares for his UN speech focusing on US sovereignty, the SG warns of a "trust deficit disorder." Guterres says there's a lack of trust in the rules based global order. "Multilateralismis under fire precisely when we need it most.
— Michele Kelemen (@michelekelemen) September 25, 2018
And a deep cut for the international relations nerds:
IR Nerds: The UN Secretary General just cited both Thucydides and Harvard's Graham Alison.
— Mark Leon Goldberg (@MarkLGoldberg) September 25, 2018
Updated
President says first priority is gender equality
The president of the general assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, is on stage to welcome the crowd.
She says this is the only assembly that allows world leaders “to hear and be heard on equal footing.”
“We live in an interconnected world leaving us no choice to pursue a global dialogue,” she says.
She says the first priority of this general assembly is gender equality.
- The second: new global agreement on migrants and refugees.
- Third: improving employment.
- Fourth: climate change and improving environmental protections.
- Fifth: political and social commitment to helping people with disabilities.
- Sixth: the revitalization of the United Nations.
- Seventh: peace and security and the role of young people in conflict prevention. “Sustained peace must be rooted in dialogue and understanding,” she says.
Conflict is resolved through conversation and understanding, she says.
Updated
The speech is veering back to optimism after a bleak rundown of the world’s major conflicts and instability of democratic institutions.
Guterres is speaking about cooperation between countries that have historically been at odds, including improved relations on the Korean peninsula.
Again, he speaks extensively about the importance of improving gender equality.
Guterres quotes former UN secretary general Kofi Annan: “We share a common destiny, we can master it only if we face it together, and that my friends is why we have the United Nations.”
Now for technology.
Guterres says that rapid technological advances have benefits but also have introduced challenges.
“The very nature of work will change,” he warns, claiming that the impact of technology on the labor market will require countries to increase public benefits and underlines the need for a universal basic income.
He says further challenges include how technology is being used by terrorists and for sexual exploitation.
He says technology is exploiting the gender gap and reinforces male power structures.
He says the impact of new technologies on warfare are a direct threat on the common goal to guarantee peace.
“The prospect of machines with the discretion and power to take human life is morally repugnant,” he says.
Guterres highlights the plight of refugees, warning that countries “who close their borders to migrants only fuel the work to traffickers.”
He is speaking extensively about climate change and the immense threat it poses to the world. “Climate change is moving faster than we are.”
“We must listen to the world’s best scientists,” he says.
Guterres proposes investing in green businesses.
He announces a climate change meeting for next September that will look at the environment and finance. It is timed for a year ahead of the deadline for countries to revise their pledges in the Paris climate agreement.
“The world needs you to be climate champions, all of you.”
Guterres says “with leadership committed to strategic cooperation” the world can avoid war.
He calls the gathered heads of state “guardians of the common good.”
Guterres commits to making the UN more effective and argues that improving global relations will improve the trust deficit he mentioned earlier.
He references major global conflicts, including the war in Syria, conflict in Yemen, the Rohingya crisis and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Guterres: world facing 'trust deficit disorder'
UN secretary general, António Guterres, has taken the stage after a video tribute to Kofi Annan, the former secretary general who died in August and a short film about the UN sustainable development goals.
Guterres begins: “Our world is suffering from a bad case of trust deficit disorder.”
He says people are losing trust in institutions and global relations are more divisive.
“Trust in global governance is also fragile,” he says.
“We face a set of paradoxes: the world is more connected, yet societies are becoming more fragmented.”
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Yesterday, the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, warned that Syria faces perpetual war unless Russia agrees to turn the one-month ceasefire in Idlib into a wider UN-endorsed political agreement.
The US national security adviser, John Bolton, also raised the prospect of an endless conflict at the UN general assembly:
Hello and welcome
Welcome to our live coverage of the United Nations general assembly’s general debate, where world leaders will present their priorities to the international stage.
The session will open at about 9am local time in New York (2pm in London) with remarks by secretary-general António Guterres. He will be followed the president of the general assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés.
Then, as is customary, Brazil will be the first country to speak, followed immediately by US president Donald Trump, who in last year’s remarks threatened to “totally destroy North Korea.”
We’ll have live updates of today’s speeches here, with analysis from the Guardian’s team of experts, including world affairs editor, Julian Borger, who is reporting from the UN’s New York headquarters. As we wait for Guterres to take the stage, you can read Julian’s preview of the summit.
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