Image source, EVN

Starting with a joke about a broken teleprompter, saying "whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble", the US president spoke for well over his allocated 15 minutes - almost an hour.

He outlined what he said makes America “the hottest country in the world” which is experiencing its "golden age".

Investment in the US, low inflation and gasoline prices, and "historic trade deals" signed after he brought in sweeping global tariffs, are among the achievements Trump listed.

Switching his vision onto the world stage, he spoke about seven wars he claims to have ended during his second term so far.

And what of the ongoing conflicts throughout the globe? The war in Ukraine, thought Trump, would be the easiest to solve.

Those negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza, he said, "have got to get it done", and the hostages have to be freed.

Recognising Palestinian statehood, as several Western countries attending the UN assembly have done in recent days, would be a "reward" for the atrocities carried out by Hamas, he said.

Trump turned his fire on two subjects: immigration, and the high cost of green renewable energy.

Countries that cherish freedom are "fading fast" because of their policies on these two subjects, he said.

Ending his speech after 56 minutes, the president concluded: "You need strong borders, and traditional energy sources, if you want to be great again."

A long time since climate change denial took such a public stagepublished at 16:46 BST 23 September

16:46 BST 23 September

Caitriona Perry
Chief presenter, BBC News, reporting from the UN

Today's first speech to the UN General Assembly came from the organisation's Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who called for its strengthening and urged its members to remember why it was founded.

Then, shortly after, US President Trump took to the floor and asked what the UN stands for and what its purpose actually is.

In his speech, the US leader said the organisation needs to change and move away from the principles on which it was founded.

He attacked the way it is functioning, the construction of its building - singling out the escalator and teleprompter which wasn't working.

These are quite extraordinary things to say to a room of people gathered to celebrate 80 years of the organisation.

The United Nations is not without its failures, but we had heard such a different view of it from the secretary-general before Trump's speech.

There were a few audible gasps from the auditorium.

These were particularly around Trump's comments on climate change, which he called a "scam".

With so much science showing that climate change and global warming are real, it's been a very long time since we've seen a leader stand on a stage like that and dispute those things.

Right as he started his speech before the UN General Assembly Donald Trump admitted he was going to be forced to read from his notes, after a teleprompter broke down.

And before he'd even taken to the podium, Trump had to contend with a broken escalator, which stopped just as soon as he and his wife Melania Trump had set foot on it.

Trump referenced the mishap during his speech, saying: "All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle."

"If the first lady wasn't in great shape she would have fallen," he said. "These are the two things I got from the United Nations; a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter."

In a video posted to social media which shows Trump on the broken escalator, the US president is then greeted by UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, who promises to have it fixed.

The teleprompter, too, began working again during the US president's speech.

Image source, Getty Images

Asked to comment on Trump's claims about Sir Sadiq Khan trying to impose Sharia law in London, a spokesperson for the London mayor's office said: "We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.

"London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we're delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here."

And UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also pushed back, saying Khan, who is the first Muslim mayor of London, is not "trying to impose sharia law" on the UK capital.

Streeting wrote on X: "This is a mayor who marches with Pride, who stands up for difference of background and opinion, who's focused on improving our transport, our air, our streets, our safety, our choices and chances.

"Proud he’s our Mayor," Streeting added.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New York

The reaction from delegates here at the UN to Trump's speech has been relatively muted, with only smattering of applause and laughs at various points.

The most audible reaction, it seems to me, took place when Trump spoke about what he termed the climate change "scam", the fighting of which he believes is holding nations back.

At that line, I heard a loud gasp from various corners of the General Assembly floor. Several delegates shook their heads visibly, and I saw others turn to their neighbours and whisper some commentary, which I couldn't hear.

• The overwhelming majority of scientists and experts agree that climate change caused by humans is real. You can learn more about it here: A really simple guide to climate change

Donald Trump has just finished speaking - after an address that ran on well over the US president's allocated 15 minutes.

Stick with us for reaction and analysis as we unpick what was said on climate change, immigration and global affairs, including Ukraine and Gaza, in Trump's nearly hour-long speech.

Image source, Reuters

Trump urges world leaders to protect free speech, and religious liberty, including for Christianity, which he claims is the "most persecuted religion".

He is now summing up his speech, about 50 minutes after he started.

He returns to earlier topics on immigration and renewable energy sources which he says are "destroying a large part of the free world".

Image source, Getty Images

Back on the subject of tariffs, Trump says that the sweeping levies his administration has put on Brazil are in response to the country's "unprecedented efforts to interfere" with the rights of Americans.

Trump then says that he walked past Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on his way into the chamber ahead of his speech.

According to Trump, the two embraced, and he asked Lula: "Can you believe I’m going to be saying this in just two minutes?"

The two leaders have a plan to meet next week, he adds.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New York

A few minutes ago, we told you about Trump's reference to US strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in international waters.

I can clearly see the Venezuelan delegation from where I am sitting - and was keen to observe their reaction as Trump singled them out for a mention when he spoke about drug trafficking, gangs and crime.

The US has on several recent occasions struck boats alleged to be carrying drugs from Venezuela, prompting strong protests from the government of Nicolas Maduro and a mobilisation of the country's militia.

The delegates here in New York, however, do not seem particularly concerned. There was very little visible reaction from them, and one appeared to be scrolling through his phone as Trump spoke of his country.

The Maduro government in a 6 September letter reached out to the Trump administration, offering to have a "direct and frank" conversation with him over the drug claims.

Trump's comments appear to suggest he is not interested in those overtures.

Trump also touches on a frequent subject of his recent speeches - crime.

Washington DC is now "a totally safe city again" he says. He credits his bringing in of the National Guard, a decision which was "not politically correct", but did the job, he says.

He speaks at length about crime in the US capital, but jumps around a few other domestic and international issues, including oil in the North Sea and Scottish pipelines.

• You can read more about Trump's crackdown on crime in Washington DC here: Has crime in Washington fallen two weeks on from Trump's crackdown?

Trump is now saying global warming is not a legitimate idea, calling climate change the ''greatest con job ever perpetrated in the world."

"No more global warming, no more global cooling'' he says, claiming that in the 1920s and 30s people were concerned about global temperatures falling.

All these climate change predictions made by the UN and others ''were wrong'' and made by ''stupid people'', he adds.

Get away from the ''green scam'' - referring to climate policies - or your country ''will fail,'' Trump tells the gathered world leaders.

"And I'm really good at predicting things," he says.

• The overwhelming majority of scientists and experts agree that climate change caused by humans is real. You can learn more about it here: A really simple guide to climate change

Image source, Reuters

“Europe is in serious trouble”, says President Trump. He says "illegal aliens are pouring in" and says they are doing “absolutely nothing about it" - putting it down to a need to be "politically correct".

He hits out at the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who he calls a "terrible mayor". He says "they want to go to Sharia law", referencing Islam's legal system.

"You are in a different country, you can’t do that," Trump says.

For context, Khan has not announced any plans to bring London under Sharia law. It is unclear what Trump is referencing.

Trump continues by saying, "their immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of western Europe if something is not done immediately".

Trump, who has passed the 30-minute mark of his 15-minute slot, is now talking about designating drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organisations".

He says "people don't like taking big loads of drugs in boats anymore", referencing recent US strikes on alleged drug vessels in international waters.

Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvia appeared to reference this earlier, saying "using lethal force in situations that do not constitute armed conflict is like executing people without trial".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New York

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky is paying rapt attention to Trump's remarks.

As Trump spoke of the bloody conflict raging in his country, I saw him nodding his head silently, dressed in black.

The man next to him - whose face I can't see clearly from my vantage point - was whispering to him during parts of Trump's remarks.

As a reminder, Trump and Zelensky are expected to meet later today, and the Ukrainian leader will be hoping to hear firm commitments from Trump on next steps by the US to support Ukraine, such as the powerful sanctions the US president just mentioned.

Trump so far sounds non-committal, insisting that other countries do the same. For those that buy Russian oil, this is a complicated proposition.

Trump has moved onto immigration - political movements in Europe and elsewhere calling for harsher new immigration controls will be bolstered to hear his comments.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump tells the assembly members it's time to end the ''failed experiment of open borders'' .

He says ''your countries are going to hell''.

Earlier he said almost 50% of inmates in German prisons were foreign nationals, and 53% in Austria, 54% in Greece, and 72% in "beautiful Switzerland".

We will look into these figures and bring you more information about what data Trump is citing.

Image source, EVN

Trump, who has been speaking now for more than the allotted 15 minutes, claims the UN is funding an assault on Western countries and their borders, accusing the world body of giving cash cards to migrants coming to the United States southern border.

"The UN is supposed to stop invasions, not create them and not finance them," he says.

The US president next moves onto biological weapons.

If used, "the world might literally come to an end", he says - and condemns research into bio-weapons and man-made pathogens as "unbelievably dangerous".

He then announces that the US will pioneer an AI verification system to tackle how countries approach bio-weapons, which he says he hopes the UN will play a "constructive" role in - but he doesn't elaborate on how this system will work.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New York

I listen to Donald Trump speak quite a bit - often multiple times per day as part of my work reporting on the White House.

Trump's speech, so far, has touched on many of the same points he makes in most public appearances: the US economy, immigration and thinly veiled swipes at his predecessor Joe Biden.

His comments on immigration, in which he vowed to send migrants back to where they come from, to jail or to "somewhere else", was particularly strongly worded and elicited seemingly nervous laughter from the UN delegates.

His claim to have stopped multiple "un-endable wars" is also one he makes often, and are particularly notable in that he made no mention of the UN or its historical role in peace-building.

"It's too bad I have to do these things instead of the United Nations," he said.

There are only sparse laughs and applause from those in attendance. A few were visibly squirming in their seats, and a few swivelled in their seats to take selfies with the president in the background.

The crux of his speech, it seems, is his view that the UN is something of an outdated relic for which Trump and the US government have little time.

Trump talks about Nato countries, some of which he says have "not cut off" Russian energy products.

He says, through doing this, they are "funding the war against themselves". He calls this "embarrassing".

The US is prepared to impose "a very strong round of powerful tariffs" on Russia if it is not ready to make a deal to end the war, Trump says.

But for this to be effective, European nations need to join the US in "adopting the exact same measures", he adds.

"Europe has to step it up," he says.

• You can read our analysis from May 2025 on how much oil and gas Europe is buying from Russia here

Trump says the families of the Israeli hostages want the dead bodies of hostages taken by Hamas to be returned, every bit as much as if they were alive.

He then pivots to talk about the ''killing in Ukraine''.

Trump says he thought it would be the easiest conflict to solve because of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which had always been ''a good one".

"In war, you don't know what's going to happen, there are always lots of surprises, both good and bad," he says.

He adds that it was ''supposed to be a quick little skirmish'', and its protracted length makes Russia look bad, not good.