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Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Sep. 23, 2025

September 23, 2025 · The White House · 0:02:27

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump held a brief bilateral meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York on September 23, 2025, on the sidelines of the General Assembly, carried on the White House channel. Guterres thanked the United States as the UN’s major political and financial supporter and said the institution was “entirely at your disposal to be able to work together for a just peace in the world,” praising the President for selecting peace as a central objective.

The President joked that his address that morning had been “a little more exciting because of the escalator and the teleprompter, but these things happen,” and answered: “Our country is behind the United Nations 100%. I think the potential of the United Nations is incredible. Really incredible… I may disagree with it sometimes, but I am so behind it because I think the potential for peace with this institution is so great.”

Why it matters

Hours after an address sharply critical of the UN’s record, this meeting is the other half of the President’s UN posture on the record: full backing for the institution’s peace potential, from the leader of its largest funder, delivered to its Secretary-General in person.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations” (official upload, embedded above; the upload’s description places the meeting in New York, NY). All characterizations as stated by the participants in the broadcast.