As Trump laid into the countries in the room over immigration, climate change and not paying him to refurbish the UN building in 2001, there were ripples of shocked gasps from delegates
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like Donald Trump’s speech to the United Nations. And from the sound of the delegates in the General Assembly hall, neither had they.
I nearly wasn’t there to hear it, for what it’s worth. The hustle required to finally gain entry to the chamber to see this momentous event involved a 5am alarm, some judicious application of charm and flattery – and, I swear to god, a coin toss. I won’t bore you with the details.
The Assembly hall is an unusual place to watch a speech. It’s absolutely cavernous – and has to be to fit representatives from all 193 member states, plus staff and observers. Not to mention Donald Trump’s ego.
But because so many people listen to the speeches on earphones for the translation, the microphones aren’t amplified in the room at all, so if you’re in the press gallery, the only sound you can hear is the person on the stage mumbling 165 feet away, who may as well be a tiny church mouse. On the other hand, that means you can hear every chuckle, groan and gasp of shock that ripples through the audience in response to the speech.
And as Trump laid into his enemies, the UN itself and several of the countries in the room over immigration, climate change and not paying him to refurbish the UN building in 2001, there were plenty of reactions.
One particularly loud ripple of gasps came towards the end of his speech, as he took a shot at the “sleepy Joe Biden”. (Although that may just have been from the translators trying to work out how they were going to run that one.)
By my count he was given one round of applause – for making the incisive argument that the war in Gaza “has to stop now.” The only other reactions from the dozens upon dozens of diplomats and observers in the chamber were occasional laughter and open-mouthed shock.
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It probably didn’t help with the President’s mood that when he arrived at the UN this morning the escalator got stuck.
And the teleprompters also being on the fritz for the first chunk of his speech probably didn’t help with keeping him on message – or on time. By my maths his speech overran by at least half an hour.
But for a man who has few peers, most of whom were in the room, he appeared to take great glee in attacking, berating and belittling those in front of him.
“I’m really good at this stuff,” he said a few minutes in, as if he was doing a hot 20 minutes at the Comedy Store and was just hitting his stride. “Your countries are going to hell.”