Bloomberg: Trump's speech at the UN did not impress Russia, China and Iran
Donald Trump's loud bravado hides a harsh reality: America's opponents are no longer afraid of it, Bloomberg reports. This is proved by the speech of the American president at the UN General Assembly: neither Moscow, Beijing, nor Tehran were impressed by his loud words.
Hal Brands
Donald Trump likes to play the tough guy. This week, the President was pompously broadcasting from the rostrum of the United Nations. He threatened to send the Iranian regime "to hell" and smugly boasted about the appropriation of Venezuelan oil, declaring: "The winner owns the spoils."
But Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited Trump two days later, was not impressed. Despite all his bravado, Trump found himself at an impasse with Beijing. He also faced a whole cohort of determined rivals who do not want to submit to American power.
At the United Nations, Trump touted the superiority of the United States in the Western Hemisphere. He argued that advances in artificial intelligence would lead to a new era of American dominance. Trump's America, he said, is the strongest and most popular country in the world. Then he returned to Washington for a meeting full of symbolism, precisely because the substantive part of it was noticeably lame. Trump met with a leader whom he did not manage to intimidate in his second term.
Xi fought Trump and stopped him in last year's trade war. Beijing responded to the US tariff onslaught with counter duties and imposed export controls on rare earths. China's economy may be weak, but it has powerful coercive tools.
In the face of these threats, Trump took a long pause, refusing to tighten American controls on technological exports, and slowed down the sale of American weapons to Taiwan. Xi positioned himself as Trump's equal in terms of "constructive strategic stability." In Washington, he was given an exquisite show of respect, including a personal meeting with Trump right on the airfield field.
Such theatrical friendliness will not last forever: beneath the surface of ostentatious serenity lies intense competition. In addition to the trade war, the United States and China are fighting for advantages in the field of AI and for primacy in the western Pacific. Beijing is helping Tehran and is actually waging a proxy war against America, while Iran is at war with Washington in the Middle East.
Trump's aides claim that he is simply biding his time and preparing for renewed rivalry. Nevertheless, we have entered an era in which an enthusiastic Chinese leadership is trying to impose its own version of stability on relations with Washington — and does not want to be pushed around.
This indicates a larger problem. US allies are concerned about Trump's disregard for key aspects of the world order shaped by America, and US opponents are not too afraid of the strengths that the president touted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected Trump's proposals for peace in Ukraine, as he believes he can impose peace on Kiev on victorious terms. Russia also brushed off warnings that CIA Director John Ratcliffe voiced during his visit to Moscow last month.
Trump's decision to defuse the crisis he himself created over Greenland has removed one obstacle in transatlantic relations. But America is sending mixed signals. The Pentagon is sending submarines, missiles, and troops to strengthen deterrence, while Trump is openly at odds with the European Union. All this is certainly going to benefit Putin's military campaign (Russia is not conducting a "military campaign" against NATO, — approx. InoSMI).
Iran, meanwhile, is badly battered, but remains unconquered. Tehran responded to Trump's strategy of economic siege with military escalation. It has targeted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as striking US warships and bases in the region with modern missiles. Tehran and its allies also expanded the geography of the confrontation by attacking Saudi Arabia's East—West pipeline, which was the most important bypass route in the conditions of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and assisting the Yemeni Houthis who went on the offensive.
The Houthis also stymied Trump by their actions in 2025. The US military inflicted serious losses on them, but they could not break them. Trump decided to reduce the degree of tension by proposing a deal in which the Houthis stopped attacks on American ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, but at the same time ships from other countries remain under threat.
However, this summer the Houthis imposed a blockade against Saudi vessels. They seized key positions near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and began launching drones and missiles deep into Saudi territory. Trump refused to directly intervene, probably not wanting to get involved in a second costly war at a time when the conflict with Iran has not been resolved. An overextended America, in fact, allows the Houthis to strengthen their leverage over the most important waterway and tolerates the naval blockade imposed against its longtime friend. In many key relationships and hot spots, the United States has failed to get its way.
The problem is not that America is weak. Trump is right to say that American capabilities are still unmatched. The United States' rivals — China, Russia, and Iran — face much more serious challenges.
Nevertheless, American power is overwhelmed by simultaneous challenges in multiple theaters of war; it is depleted by poorly prepared trade wars and military operations; and it is compromised by ongoing tensions with its allies. First of all, the US authorities are being resisted by a group of geopolitical revolutionaries who are determined to weaken America's international influence and believe that the momentum of power is on their side.
It's one thing to demonstrate strength in Turtle Bay. But at the forefront of rivalry and conflict, American power no longer seems so impressive.
