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Trump just attacked the UN at its major world meeting · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: A test for global diplomacy from wars in Iran and
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  Speaker 1: Ukraine to our warming planet. The UN General Assembly is underway.
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  Speaker 2: In New York. More than 100 heads of state and
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  Speaker 2: government gathering here for this annual get-together.
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  Speaker 3: Our shared future will be forged by whether humanity can
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  Speaker 3: govern power wisely.
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  Speaker 4: So many developments, lots going on in New York.
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  Speaker 5: It is an honour to be at the United Nations.
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  Speaker 3: It's like the World Cup of global politics, isn't it?
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  Speaker 4: MUSIC World leaders have descended on New York for this
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  Speaker 4: year's UN General Assembly. It's regarded as diplomacy's biggest event
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  Speaker 4: of the year. But what is it all about? What
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  Speaker 4: do they do and why does it matter? Over the
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  Speaker 4: next 10 minutes, we're going to answer those questions. But
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  Speaker 4: as ever, when it comes to world leaders gathering, all
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  Speaker 4: eyes are on President Trump. He spoke about a huge
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  Speaker 4: range of issues in his address to the assembly. Let's
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  Speaker 4: listen to just some of what the president had to say.
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  Speaker 5: I have a big decision to make.
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  Speaker 6: Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them
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  Speaker 6: rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever
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  Speaker 6: was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle
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  Speaker 6: East or even the world?
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  Speaker 5: Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic?
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  Speaker 6: My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the
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  Speaker 6: situation in Cuba, where the communist regime is under great pressure,
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  Speaker 6: the biggest pressure they've ever been under. It's an absolutely
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  Speaker 6: failed state. It's failing like never before, and it will fall.
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  Speaker 6: We're working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine,
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  Speaker 6: and we will get that one done. It's going to happen,
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  Speaker 6: I think, more quickly than people understand they've had it.
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  Speaker 6: From this point forward, all of United States documents, and
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  Speaker 6: hopefully the world's, will be changed to use the much
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  Speaker 6: more accurate term, Super as opposed to artificial.
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  Speaker 5: So it's super intelligence.
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  Speaker 4: We'll get more on that in a moment. But first,
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  Speaker 4: what is the United Nations and what is its General Assembly?
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  Speaker 7: The United Nations is a worldwide organisation that brings countries
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  Speaker 7: together to talk about and try to agree on world issues.
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  Speaker 8: It was set up in 1945 after the Second World
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  Speaker 8: War as a way of bringing people together and to
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  Speaker 8: avoid war.
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  Speaker 7: That's why the logo shows the world held in the
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  Speaker 7: olive branches of peace.
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  Speaker 8: The UN was originally formed with 51 countries. There are
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  Speaker 8: now 193 member states.
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  Speaker 7: The General Assembly is the main meeting which decides what
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  Speaker 7: the organisation should do.
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  Speaker 8: In the big debate, Brazil always speaks first.
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  Speaker 7: That's because in the early days, when nobody wanted to
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  Speaker 7: go first, Brazil often volunteered and it then became tradition.
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  Speaker 8: It's the only meeting where all the members are represented
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  Speaker 8: and it takes place every September at the UN's headquarters.
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  Speaker 7: The HQ is in one of the busiest parts of
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  Speaker 7: New York City, but the land and building don't belong
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  Speaker 7: to the USA. The UN buildings are international territory.
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  Speaker 8: So how much power does the UN have?
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  Speaker 7: Each member country has one vote. Decisions that are voted
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  Speaker 7: for become resolutions.
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  Speaker 8: But although the Assembly can make recommendations, it can't force
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  Speaker 8: countries to take action.
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  Speaker 4: So, if the UN can't force countries to take action
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  Speaker 4: on issues, what does it actually do? Sumi Somaskanda reports
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  Speaker 4: now from New York.
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  Speaker 1: I think one of the answers that we have heard
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  Speaker 1: here time and again is the UN's convening power. it
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  Speaker 1: can bring together leaders from around the world and their
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  Speaker 1: delegates to talk about some of the trickiest issues. And
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  Speaker 1: it's simply that convening power that no other international body
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  Speaker 1: has that makes the United Nations so uniquely special and
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  Speaker 1: also effective. Now, of course, many countries would argue that
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  Speaker 1: the UN has not been particularly effective, but there are
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  Speaker 1: binding mechanisms. There is the UN Security Council, and technically
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  Speaker 1: their resolutions can be binding. They can pass sanctions. They
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  Speaker 1: can approve peacekeeping missions. But there are five permanent members
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  Speaker 1: that each have a veto power.
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  Speaker 4: Well, there's been a rocky relationship between Donald Trump and
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  Speaker 4: the United Nations over the years. Last year, President Trump
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  Speaker 4: actually accused the UN of a triple sabotage during his
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  Speaker 4: visit after incidents with an escalator, a teleprompter and audio
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  Speaker 4: in the hall. Well, moving on, we also know there's
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  Speaker 4: no technical issues this year. But once again, President Trump
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  Speaker 4: didn't hold back in his address. Sumi Sobskanda has more
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  Speaker 4: on that.
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  Speaker 1: We have to keep in mind that President Trump, the
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  Speaker 1: multilateral forum is not his preferred forum, let's say. President
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  Speaker 1: Trump really champions bilateral deals, bilateral discussions. And so the
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  Speaker 1: United Nations to him has served at times as a
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  Speaker 1: thorn in his side, a forum with other global leaders
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  Speaker 1: that he sees, as he said today, carrying forth a left-wing, quote,
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  Speaker 1: globalist agenda. At the same time, he did also thank
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  Speaker 1: the U.N. Security Council for passing a unanimous resolution to
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  Speaker 1: condemn Iran's attacks on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
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  Speaker 1: He did praise some of the actions of the United
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  Speaker 1: Nations and its Security Council. But at the end of
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  Speaker 1: the day, President Trump has been extremely critical of this
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  Speaker 1: body and particularly of legal action. Court mechanisms, we know
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  Speaker 1: that his administration has targeted the International Criminal Court, sanctioned
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  Speaker 1: some of its members, and we understand is preparing as
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  Speaker 1: well to sanction, to prepare more sanctions on the International
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  Speaker 1: Criminal Court. So for President Trump, this is an important
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  Speaker 1: platform to speak to other global leaders, but it is
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  Speaker 1: perhaps more importantly a place where the president can hold
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  Speaker 1: some of those bilateral meetings with the U.S. 's partners.
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  Speaker 4: So aside from President Trump, what other world leaders can
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  Speaker 4: we expect to hear from? Here's Sarah Smith in New York.
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  Speaker 9: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to be giving
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  Speaker 9: a speech here. But the president of the Palestinian Authority,
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  Speaker 9: Mahmoud Abbas, he wasn't given a visa to enter the
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  Speaker 9: United States. So he's going to have to speak via
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  Speaker 9: video link.
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  Speaker 3: Yet.
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  Speaker 9: The Iranian delegation, the Iranian president, he was allowed to
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  Speaker 9: enter America despite currently being at war with the US
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  Speaker 9: and he will be giving a speech. As well as
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  Speaker 9: the big speeches, a lot of the real business here
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  Speaker 9: at the UN gets done in the meetings on the sidelines.
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  Speaker 9: Donald Trump is seeing new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
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  Speaker 9: He's meeting Arab Gulf leaders to talk about the war
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  Speaker 9: in Iran and he's expected to meet Vladimir Zelensky to
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  Speaker 9: talk about the war in Ukraine tomorrow. But even though
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  Speaker 9: that is all a very big deal, it's not the
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  Speaker 9: biggest thing that's going to happen in world diplomacy this
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  Speaker 9: week because President Xi of China is skipping this meeting.
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  Speaker 9: He's flying straight to Washington for one-on-one meetings with Donald
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  Speaker 9: Trump and a big flashy state dinner at the White House.
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  Speaker 4: One of the most anticipated meetings was between Andy Burnham
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  Speaker 4: and Donald Trump. It's the first time the two have
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  Speaker 4: met since Burnham became prime minister. Here's a flavour of
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  Speaker 4: how it went.
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  Speaker 3: Britain has been in too much... turbulence, a sense of
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  Speaker 3: just not knowing where we're going. And I think you
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  Speaker 3: responded when I said we're going to lay out a
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  Speaker 3: plan for Britain, a 10-year direction. The country's got so
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  Speaker 3: much going for it, and it's time to turn the
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  Speaker 3: story about Britain to a positive story, get some hopefulness
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  Speaker 3: going around the country. And I think you were saying
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  Speaker 3: today that That very much is how you see it.
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  Speaker 3: And there's a great opportunity for us as we go.
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  Speaker 10: There's great patriotism in the country. They want to see
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  Speaker 10: great things happen. Tremendous potential. I mean, I see some countries,
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  Speaker 10: and I'm with the leaders, and I don't say it,
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  Speaker 10: but I don't see a lot of potential. They've got
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  Speaker 10: a tough road to hoe. This is a country with
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  Speaker 10: great patriotism. They love the country. The people love the
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  Speaker 10: country as much as any other country I.
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  Speaker 1: Can think of.
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  Speaker 10: And I think it's just waiting for success, waiting for
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  Speaker 10: good leadership, waiting for success.
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  Speaker 4: Well, our political editor, Chris Mason, was in that room.
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  Speaker 4: He gave us this update straight afterwards.
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  Speaker 2: What you saw there was a president keen to be warm,
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  Speaker 2: keen to, if you like, put something of an arm
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  Speaker 2: around a new prime minister. I suspect a nervous moment
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  Speaker 2: that for Andy Burnham, a pinch yourself moment for him
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  Speaker 2: in his early months as prime minister, but a nervous
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  Speaker 2: moment at the point that we were invited into the room, what,
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  Speaker 2: 20 minutes or so ago? because we didn't know, he
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  Speaker 2: didn't know what on earth was going to happen. But
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  Speaker 2: by Donald Trump's standards for these kind of events, that
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  Speaker 2: was at the conventional end of the spectrum. You know, perhaps, what,
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  Speaker 2: half a dozen, a dozen questions taken. It didn't become
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  Speaker 2: a freewheeling affair lasting a very long time. And so, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I suspect they will allow themselves a smile, the prime
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  Speaker 2: minister and his team.
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  Speaker 4: So why should we care about what happens at the
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  Speaker 4: UN General Assembly? Why is it important? Sumi explains.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the United Nations General Assembly is really the only
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  Speaker 1: such forum where you have all the world leaders who
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  Speaker 1: come together and are essentially given the same stage. leaders
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  Speaker 1: and countries that don't normally have their voices heard in
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  Speaker 1: a global forum can do so here. They get to
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  Speaker 1: address the body and, of course, organize bilateral meetings. As
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  Speaker 1: we have seen, President Trump has been meeting with a
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  Speaker 1: number of partners here. And that goes, of course, for
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  Speaker 1: other world leaders as well. Now, as for the future
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  Speaker 1: of the General Assembly, we know that the Secretary General,
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  Speaker 1: Antonio Guterres... is ending his term. There will be a
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  Speaker 1: new secretary general. And one of the main questions going
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  Speaker 1: forward will be how to reform the United Nations. We
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  Speaker 1: mentioned the UN Security Council has been blocked by the
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  Speaker 1: fact that each of the five permanent members has veto power.
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  Speaker 1: And so there have been many calls for reforms of
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  Speaker 1: the United Nations, of the Security Council, to be able
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  Speaker 1: to make the body more effective. And that is something
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  Speaker 1: that would have broad support among many member states.
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  Speaker 4: And that's what's happening at the UN General Assembly.
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  Speaker 5: Explained.