Trump heads to UN as Iran war and oil jitters darken global outlook

Donald Trump will address the UN General Assembly as the Iran war and oil turmoil dominate the agenda. His speech and meetings will test US diplomacy on security, energy and strained alliances.

In Short

• Trump will meet Gulf leaders to discuss Iran war and regional attacks
• Oil flows through Hormuz have improved, but prices remain sharply elevated
• Qatar says mediation aims to overcome mistrust and restart US-Iran negotiations

US President Donald Trump is set to address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday at a difficult moment for both the world and his presidency. The global economy has been shaken by his decision to launch a war against Iran, concern is rising over the social impact of artificial intelligence, and questions remain over the future of the United Nations after Trump scaled back US financial support for the body.

After his speech to the annual gathering of world leaders, Trump is expected to hold talks with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodrguez. He is also due to meet leaders and senior officials from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss the war in Iran and concern over recent attacks on Saudi Arabia by Iran-backed rebels. Even as the war has hurt Republican hopes before the midterm elections, administration officials say Trump will argue that the world is better off under his leadership.

Ambassador Mike Waltz, Trump's chief envoy to the international body, said: "We expect the president will highlight how he has and his administration have confronted complex problems head-on around the world." Waltz also suggested Trump may return to some of his long-running criticism of the UN. The president has described the organisation as ineffectual on issues of war and peace, said it is pushing a "con job" by stressing the need to address global warming, and claimed it has encouraged the "invasion" of migrants into Europe.

The war in Iran is expected to dominate much of the backdrop to Trump's speech. In last year's address, he said the US had "completely demolished" Iran's nuclear capabilities after ordering the June 2025 bombardment of three key facilities. He returns to the General Assembly with the war nearing its seventh month, insisting it is necessary to deal with a nuclear threat from Iran. The conflict has, however, become more complicated even though US and Israeli strikes have killed much of Iran's top leadership and destroyed its air force and navy, while a US blockade of Iranian oil has left Tehran in economic trouble.

Oil shipments from other Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuz have improved in recent weeks, with the US Navy helping guide commercial vessels through the narrow waterway. Even so, the flow remains well below pre-war levels, and Brent crude is still hovering around USD 100 per barrel, up from about USD 70 in the weeks before the war began. The energy market remains uneasy. Saudi Arabia shut a key pipeline earlier this month after it came under attack from Iran-backed militants in Iraq, while advances by Yemen-based Houthi rebels near the Bab al-Mandab Strait have made the Red Sea shipping route dangerous for oil carriers.

Majed al-Ansari, chief spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said on Monday that Qatar and other mediators were trying to bridge a "deep deficit of trust" between the US and Iran and get both sides back to negotiations. Speaking at the Concordia Annual Summit during the UN's high-level week, he said: "What we're trying to say is that, Listen, this will end at the negotiating table. Either we sign a deal now or sign a deal 10 months away. The only difference is the number of dead and destruction that we see."

On the sidelines of the General Assembly, the Trump administration is also set to sign an agreement with Danish and Greenlandic leaders on expanding the US military's footprint on Greenland. The deal was announced last week after Trump repeatedly threatened to "take over" Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark, by military force if necessary. Under the agreement, Greenland will remain part of Denmark. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: "I'm looking forward to the meeting tomorrow. I think we have reached a good agreement."

Trump could also refer to Russia's war against Ukraine, a conflict he had said during the 2024 campaign would be resolved on the first day of his second term. He has increasingly voiced frustration over Ukraine's strikes on Russia's diesel refineries and Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy grid. Last week, Trump said he had secured agreement from both sides not to target each other's energy infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was willing to accept the plan if Russia followed it, while Russia said it could do so only if Western energy sanctions on Moscow were lifted. The strikes have continued. Before leaving for New York on Monday, Trump posted: "Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine." He added: "This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended."

Trump's meetings in New York are also being closely watched. His talks with Burnham will be their first face-to-face meeting since the Labour leader became prime minister in July. With high oil prices weighing on the British economy, Burnham may also want to discuss ways to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He announced on Monday that he would send a Royal Air Force plane to the Middle East to help Saudi Arabia repel Houthi attacks, with the aircraft set to refuel Saudi planes during "defensive" missions. Trump's meeting with Takaichi comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington later this week. Tensions between Japan and China have sharpened after Takaichi said last year that Japan's military could intervene if China moved against Taiwan, affecting the wider economic relationship. Trump's engagement with Rodrguez will be their first meeting since he ordered a US military operation in January to capture former Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro and take him to New York to face federal narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges.

Trump's UN visit, therefore, comes with the Iran war, energy market worries, the Greenland agreement, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and a series of leader-level meetings all in focus, as he makes his case to world leaders at a tense moment in global affairs.

With PTI Inputs

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