
September 22nd, 2026
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “a world built on interdependence” on Tuesday.
He gave his final address to the annual gathering of world leaders.
He said wars, rising temperatures and artificial intelligence are widening the world’s fault lines.
He urged leaders not to let the future drift toward fragmentation, transactionalism and mistrust.
Guterres leaves office at the end of this year, which gave his message added urgency.
He also told superpowers that their power “isn’t so super.”
He said military power alone cannot secure peace.
About an hour later, U.S. President Donald Trump offered a different view of power.
He said he had used strength to make America the most powerful country in the world.
Trump said the U.N. has “great potential.”
However, he criticized it for imposing what he called a far-left globalist agenda.
He also criticized bodies such as the International Criminal Court, which the U.S. does not belong to.
The meeting will focus on wars in Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Congo and Myanmar.
It will also discuss whether leaders can end them.
It will address global warming, growing inequality and economic shocks from blocked shipping routes and supply chains.
The future of the U.N. itself is on the agenda, including reform of the Security Council.
Guterres’ second five-year term ends Dec. 31, and no clear successor has emerged.
He vowed to “never, ever give up” on the values the U.N. stands for.
He left the rostrum to a sustained standing ovation.
About 130 heads of state and government are expected to speak.
Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke Tuesday.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian speak Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the assembly Thursday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not attend because the U.S. refused him a visa.
However, he will speak by video the same day.
China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi are skipping the gathering.
France’s U.N. ambassador, Jerome Bonnafont, said it is “extremely critical” for leaders to support the U.N. as a place for cooperation and dialogue over confrontation.
September 22nd, 2026

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