Trump Criticizes Global Institutions, Defends Diplomacy at UN

President Donald Trump returned to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in New York to deliver a forceful critique of global institutions while defending his administration's record on diplomacy, opening with a quip that the teleprompter was not working and closing with a call for greater U.S. leadership. The address, given amid raging wars in Gaza and Ukraine and a wave of recognition for a Palestinian state by U.S. allies, underscored the widening gap between the White House's America First approach and multilateral institutions that Mr. Trump said have failed to resolve conflicts.

Trump began by complaining about a malfunctioning teleprompter and a broken escalator at U.N. headquarters, then moved quickly to a familiar argument that the United Nations did not help secure recent peace arrangements and has failed to live up to its potential. A White House official said the speech would emphasize peace, sovereignty and accountability and highlight the administration's role in brokering or advancing ceasefires and agreements around the world. Trump repeated his claim that he had ended seven wars since taking office and said the U.N. "was not even there for us" in those...