President Donald Trump told European leaders their countries were “going to hell” in a combative address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, coupling a sweeping denunciation of Europe’s migration and climate agendas with threats of tougher economic measures against Russia and a demand that U.S. allies follow his lead. “I’m really good at this stuff,” he said from the rostrum. “Your countries are going to hell.” He framed recent U.S. border crackdowns as a model for other nations and cast European policies on asylum and green energy as existential mistakes.
Turning repeatedly to immigration, Trump accused European governments of “destroying your heritage” and urged them to abandon what he called a failed experiment with open borders. “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now,” he said, adding moments later: “Your countries are going to hell.” He asserted that lenient migration rules had put European societies in “serious trouble,” telling leaders they should emulate the United States’ tougher enforcement.
Trump paired the warning with an extended attack on global climate policy, calling climate change “the greatest con job ever” and deriding renewable energy initiatives as a “green scam.” “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail,” he said, arguing that European electricity costs were punishing households and industry. He also claimed “the carbon footprint is a hoax made up by people with evil intentions.” The remarks drew a muted reaction in the hall but immediate rebukes from scientists and officials outside the chamber, where scheduled climate events carried on across Midtown.
In one of several broadsides aimed directly at the United Kingdom, Trump alleged that London under Mayor Sadiq Khan “now [wants] to go to sharia law,” a claim denounced as false by critics in Britain within hours. “I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it’s been changed, it’s been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law,” he said. In London, Labour MPs publicly pressed the government to protest the rhetoric; Khan’s spokesperson said the mayor would not dignify “appalling and bigoted comments” but noted that London remains safer than major U.S. cities and continues to attract U.S. residents.
The speech mixed policy threats with anecdote and grievance, including complaints about a balky teleprompter and a stalled escalator at U.N. headquarters. “These are the two things I got from the United Nations — a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” he quipped, saying the equipment mishaps had nearly felled the first lady. The aside punctuated a 56-minute address heavy on familiar themes from the president’s campaign rallies and earlier U.N. appearances, in which he has often cast himself as a truth-telling outsider to multilateral diplomacy.
Trump argued the United Nations too often produces “empty words,” asking delegates, “What is the purpose of the United Nations?” He said the body “is not even coming close” to its potential and claimed it sometimes “creates new problems” rather than solving them. He followed the critique by assuring Secretary-General António Guterres that the United States “is behind the United Nations 100%,” a message the secretary-general met by emphasizing the U.N.’s mediation role and the constraints imposed by great-power divisions on the Security Council.
The president tied his European critique to the war in Ukraine, urging governments to match U.S. measures and vowing “a very strong round of powerful tariffs” on Russia if Moscow proves unwilling to make peace. “They’re funding the war against themselves,” he said of European buyers of Russian energy. “Who the hell ever heard of that one?” He pressed allies to stop purchasing Russian oil and said coordinated trade steps would be needed to make economic pressure bite.
U.S. television networks and wire services captured the key lines in real time, with footage showing Trump looking directly at European delegations as he delivered the “going to hell” warning. In a report summarizing the address, ABC News quoted Trump telling leaders, “Your countries are being ruined,” before repeating, “Your countries are going to hell,” as he exhorted them to harden borders. The network also reported his admonition that Europe “has to step it up” on Russia, calling ongoing purchases of Russian oil “embarrassing.”
The U.N. session unfolded as European officials sought to project a contrasting message on climate. Teresa Ribera, an executive vice-president of the European Commission responsible for the green portfolio, used New York Climate Week appearances to signal that the EU’s updated emissions target is due “within weeks,” adding that delaying climate action would be “suicide” economically and socially. Her remarks underscored a policy gap between Washington and Brussels that has widened since the United States quit the Paris Agreement again in January.
Trump’s portrayal of Europe’s migration debate echoed language he and close advisers have used since his return to office in January, when the administration began drafting proposals to narrow asylum rights globally. “Immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe,” he said at the U.N., casting cultural preservation as a rationale for mass deportations and border closures. European governments have tightened external border controls and cut asylum approvals in recent years, but the president dismissed such steps as insufficient, saying leaders were allowing in immigrants “just to be nice.”
Inside Britain, lawmakers moved swiftly to counter the sharia claim as the clip circulated on social media. “The U.S. ambassador should be summoned and challenged over Trump’s rampant Islamophobia,” Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan wrote, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting said, “Sadiq Khan is not trying to impose sharia law on London,” praising the mayor’s record on inclusion and public services. Khan’s office said London would not respond beyond rejecting the premise and pointed to record applications by U.S. citizens for U.K. citizenship this year.
On the Middle East, Trump reiterated opposition to European recognition of a Palestinian state and said those moves would “encourage continued conflict.” He called instead for unity behind a demand that Hamas release all hostages and said he supports a ceasefire-for-hostages arrangement to end the fighting in Gaza. “The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” he said, repeating a line he has used in other venues this month. The secretary-general, in separate remarks during U.N. week events, continued to press for unfettered humanitarian access, warning of the “scale of death and destruction” in the enclave during the war.
Trump’s address came a day after officials warned that U.N. humanitarian appeals are critically underfunded this year, and amid disputes over U.S. arrears to the U.N. system following a string of cuts and withdrawals since January. Guterres has cautioned that aid cuts are “wreaking havoc,” calling them “a death sentence for many,” even as he engages with Washington over bureaucratic reforms and performance metrics. The White House says its pressure is aimed at eliminating waste and ideology from U.N. programs; European governments have broadly resisted the framing, arguing for shoring up multilateral institutions under strain from multiple wars and climate shocks.
Following his General Assembly speech, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and, pressed by reporters on NATO air defense responses, said allied countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they violate their airspace. He again argued that ending the war requires a harder economic line from Europe alongside U.S. measures, including any new tariff round he is considering. The encounter with Zelensky fit a daylong pattern of bilateral meetings in New York that the White House said were intended to rally partners to “defend their borders and unite against terrorism, mass migration … and threats to cultural identity,” as one administration summary put it.
The president’s rhetorical style — confrontational, personal, and punctuated by boasts — echoed earlier U.N. appearances that drew laughter from delegates, though the response on Tuesday was mostly quiet. At one point he told leaders that “everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize,” before insisting that his true prize would be saved lives if “endless and inglorious wars” end. He again criticized what he called “strongly worded letters” as the U.N.’s default tool. The U.N. chamber fell silent as he delivered the “going to hell” line, then resumed intermittent applause after he finished.
European media outlets highlighted the directness of the rebuke, with reports noting that Trump fixed his gaze on EU delegations as he linked migration and climate policy to decline. Clips circulated across broadcasters and social platforms, including a C-SPAN excerpt headlined “President Trump Tells Allies at U.N. ‘Your Countries Are Going to Hell.’” In Europe, rolling news channels replayed the portion of the speech in which he warned, “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail,” while fact-checkers flagged the London sharia claim as baseless.
For Trump’s supporters, the intervention was pitched as a defense of sovereignty on the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. The White House described the address as a rejection of “destructive globalism” and a call for nations to secure their borders and prioritize domestic security. The framing contrasted sharply with appeals by U.N. officials and some European leaders for renewed multilateral cooperation and stepped-up funding, particularly for humanitarian relief and climate adaptation in poorer countries.
The practical implications for transatlantic relations will unfold in the weeks ahead. Trump’s push for Europe to adopt identical trade measures against Russia — and to halt remaining Russian energy purchases — places fresh pressure on EU capitals that have sought to balance war-time solidarity with economic constraints at home. His climate message, delivered as Brussels finalizes a new emissions target, underscored a policy gulf that has widened since Washington’s reversal on Paris. And his language on migration signaled that the administration will continue pressing for a global narrowing of asylum standards even as European governments tighten their own systems.
What was beyond doubt in New York was the president’s choice of register. “Your countries are being ruined,” he told leaders gathered under the emerald marble and golden emblem. “Your countries are going to hell.” For a session meant to mark the institution’s 80th year, the message from the United States was that the answers lie not in broader cooperation but in national resolve — sealed borders, fossil energy and pressure on adversaries — and that Europe, in the president’s telling, is running out of time to change course.