President Donald Trump was again the center of attention at the United Nations on Tuesday, as world leaders scrambled to stay in his good graces.
But behind the headlines, there was an undercurrent of discontent — and even defiance — from some leaders who are seemingly preparing for a life after the U.S.-led order.
After Trump threatened to “annihilate” elements of Iran, some allies sounded the alarm.
“I was worried when I heard a leader of a great power saying that he is considering annihilating a country. I mean, this is clearly a massive violation of the whole principle of the U.N.,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in an interview.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, one of Trump’s principal critics on the world stage, didn’t meet with the American president. Instead, he pushed for less reliance on traditional American power, even as he’s courting new investors including China — with his U.S. trade war a key selling point.
“It’s not wishful multilateralism which defends only the status quo, nor a cold realpolitik that dismantles the status quo altogether,” Carney told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. “And the alternative that Canada and many others are pursuing is values-based realism.”
On artificial intelligence, Norway and Finland called for human control of AI, gathering signatures from nearly two dozen world leaders including Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Canada. The push came after Trump rejected global AI oversight.
And Cuba’s delegation walked out on Trump’s speech after the president said his administration was “seeking a fundamental change” in Havana.
At home, Trump faces grim polling numbers and mounting criticism — including from members of his own party — fearful they are about to be swept from power. And while he still commanded the spotlight at the United Nations — telling reporters his envoys met with the Iranian delegation, holding meetings with Gulf allies and winning plaudits from Latin America — the critics sounded more confident.
Even some of Trump’s wins were tempered. After threatening to conquer Greenland, the Danes appeared to placate Trump with a deal, albeit one that seemed similar to the status quo.
“Our allies in public comments obviously walk on eggshells with the president. There are very few that are willing to publicly take him on,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told POLITICO on Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N.
Murphy, however, warned against confusing the praise with respect. “You just watch what’s happening in South America, in Asia, and in Africa,” he said. “Countries are deepening their relationships with China, and there are no new deals to be made with the United States of any significance.” The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The major event of Trump’s day was the signing of a deal between the U.S., Greenland and Denmark that bars any non-NATO nation from opening a base on the island or mining for critical minerals or rare earths without the agreement of the three signatories.
The Trump administration quickly boasted that the U.S. will build two new bases on the island.
“I know it’s going to be a long-term, fantastic relationship,” Trump said at the signing ceremony later, alongside Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Frederiksen thanked Trump for the deal, saying it was “an even bigger and better agreement” than its 1951 predecessor.
But one NATO diplomat who was granted anonymity to speak frankly about a still-contentious issue breathed a sigh of relief — if not exasperation. “The existing treaty was already a good deal for Washington and the alliance, and the drama was unnecessary, but that’s how business is done these days,” the diplomat said. “We’ve learned that.”
Some new initiatives by the Trump administration won praise, including his Shield of the Americas effort to fight crime in Latin America.
“We applaud your leadership and your initiative, President Trump. We are here to support the group and also to receive the information, support from all of you,” Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori said at an event for the group.
Nozima Davletova, a consultant to the head of Uzbekistan’s presidential administration, said in an interview that her country welcomed closer ties with Washington. She pointed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s upcoming trip to Uzbekistan, planned for October. The U.S. and Uzbekistan also signed a trade deal in June following a critical minerals pact in February. “This is the only period in U.S. history when the United States has been proactive towards Uzbekistan,” Davletova said. “In the past, the United States couldn’t even show Uzbekistan on a map.
Trump arrived at the U.N. as shipping remains disrupted in both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb following U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran. The U.K., which informed Washington in July that it would not send warships until there is a solid and working ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, made clear it wants to be part of the solution.
“We’re still ready to play our part in the Middle East in terms of helping you stop the conflict, open the Strait and obviously, we are with you that Iran must never be a nuclear power,” Prime Minister Andy Burnham said during a meeting with Trump.
Trump said in response that Burnham “gets it” and “understands what he has to do.”
Eide told POLITICO that Norway convened a session on the Strait of Hormuz but pointed to a feeling of vexation.
“When the rest of us want to contribute, we cannot do that as parties to a conflict that we were against, that we did not choose, and that we also see as outside of international law,” he said. “That war has created a problem that we didn’t have before.”
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