At UN, Trump threatens to ‘annihilate’ Iran but predicts deal after midterms

New York: Donald Trump told world leaders at the United Nations that he was weighing whether to annihilate Iran to end the war, but predicted the two countries would reach a peace deal after the US midterm elections in November.

The US president also rejected what he called a “globalist scheme” to regulate AI – which Australia has joined – and said the US would officially rename artificial intelligence to “super intelligence” in a bid to rehabilitate the concept’s image.

Trump said the change would be made on all US government documents regarding AI, and he hoped the world would follow suit. “It sounds much better. It is much better, and it’s much more accurate. Let’s see if I have any power. Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t – we’re going to find out pretty soon.”

Trump’s speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday morning (US time) was less combative than his effort last year, when he lectured the world about the climate change “hoax” and told his global counterparts their countries were “going to hell” thanks to mass migration.

While the president revisited those topics in passing, he focused on opposing AI regulation and defending the war against Iran, which has now lasted nearly seven months.

The war had severely weakened the Islamic theocracy in Tehran, he said, which has lost its entire navy and is suffering from inflation that eclipsed 300 per cent. But a deal to end the conflict collapsed, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continues to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

“I have a big decision to make,” Trump said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?

“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal tight after the election. Because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.

“They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don’t realise is that I’m no running. I did that already, and won in a landslide. I’ll be here for two-and-a-half years. The Republican Party is running [in November’s election] and I’ll be helping them. But I am not running.”

Trump said he gave no credence to the midterm elections at all when it came to deciding what to do about Iran. “It doesn’t even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”

The speech came a day after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – who is also in New York for UN leaders’ week – joined counterparts from Canada, Europe and elsewhere in calling for mandatory safety testing, independent evaluations and greater international oversight of so-called frontier AI models.

The declaration called for a UN-style international organisation that would set standards and oversee AI use.

Trump’s rejection of this “globalist scheme” reflects his belief that any regime to regulate the sector would cede control to China, the US’ main rival to AI dominance.

“I am not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution,” he told the UN General Assembly. “Americans have never been a nation that retreats from a frontier or shrinks from a challenge, no matter or how great or how daunting that challenge may be.”

As he did last year, the US president used the platform to attack elements of the UN itself – including UNESCO and the Human Rights Council – and its “far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats”.

Trump also lashed out at the International Criminal Court, which he called a “rogue institution” and “an evil group of people”. The ICC – which the US has never been a party to – has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to deliver his own address to the UN on Thursday.

When the US president turned his attention to Cuba, branding it “an absolutely failed state” that would soon collapse, the Cuban delegation in the audience walked out of the room.

Earlier, as he entered the UN building, Trump briefly stopped to speak to reporters, and targeted CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins. CNN was one of three news outlets Trump banned from the White House last week.

“I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me,” Trump said. “You should not be here. You said you weren’t going to cover me, you shouldn’t be covering me.”

Like other news organisations, CNN received credentials from the UN to cover the General Assembly.