President Donald Trump unleashed an extraordinary tirade at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, saying Britain and Europe are “going to hell” because of immigration and dismissing climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”.
In a spectacular outburst, the US leader said Western nations are being taken over by “illegal aliens” and warned that “immigration and suicidal energy ideas will be the death of western Europe”.
And only days after enjoying dinner with the King and Queen at Windsor Castle, he falsely claimed that London is adopting Islamic sharia law and called Sir Sadiq Khan a “terrible, terrible mayor”.
The president’s hour-long address touched on many familiar grievances and elicited some groans and uncomfortable laughter from delegates.
He said the UN is “funding an assault on Western countries and their borders” by supporting illegal immigration, and he claimed green energy projects aimed at reducing their carbon footprint were causing irreparable harm to their economies and cultures.
“I’m telling you that if you don’t get away from the ‘green energy’ scam, your country is going to fail,” Trump said. “If you don’t stop people that you’ve never seen before that you have nothing in common with, your country is going to fail.”
The speech risked all of the goodwill from last week’s historic state visit, when he and first lady Melania were taken on a carriage ride around Windsor Castle and feted with a giant banquet at which he said he “loved Britain”.
“Europe is in serious trouble,” Trump told the UN delegates. “They have been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before. They are doing absolutely nothing about it.
“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. But you are in a different country, you can’t do that.
“Both the immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe if something isn’t done immediately. This cannot be sustained.”
Sir Sadiq’s office said it would not “dignify” Trump’s “appalling and bigoted comments” by responding.
“London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here,” a spokesperson added.
Focusing on Britain as an example of Western failure, Trump ranted that North Sea oil is “so highly taxed that no developer, no oil company can go there”.
Trump also went on to criticise the decision to put “windmills and massive solar panels” in the countryside, deriding renewable energy as “pathetic”.
“I want to stop seeing them ruining that beautiful Scottish and English countryside with windmills and massive solar panels that go seven miles by seven miles, taking away farmland,” he said. “But we’re not letting this happen in America.”
He also claimed that Christianity is “the most persecuted religion” and demanded that Hamas return all the hostages, as he rejected the recognition of Palestine as a state.
There was some faint praise from the UN itself, insisting he remained “100 per cent” supportive.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump asked. “The UN has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it. It has such tremendous, tremendous potential. But it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential.
“I may disagree with it sometimes, but I am so behind it because the potential for peace at this institution is great.”
Around the same time, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was giving his party’s keynote speech at the conference in Bournemouth, where he warned that a Nigel Farage Reform UK government would mean Trump’s policies are introduced in Britain.
He claimed that Farage, Trump and X (formerly Twitter) boss Elon Musk, along with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, were part of “the forces of darkness” who needed to be stopped.
Downing Street has not commented on Trump’s speech, but it comes as the prime minister heads to his own party conference this weekend with serious question marks hanging over his strategy.
