David Brady Jr.
Staff Writer
This year’s annual United Nations meeting at its headquarters in New York featured U.S. President Donald Trump’s fifth appearance. While the United States, a founding member of the organization in 1945 has historically worked closely with the body, President Trump stands at odds with the consensus of the body on important issues. Parallel to this struggle are his attempts to navigate international issues while facing domestic political constraints, most especially from young voters.
Though he touted, in his Sept. 23 address to the general assembly, his administration having “ended seven ‘un-endable’ wars” the two conflicts he sought to resolve at the beginning of his administration have continued. The President went so far as to criticize the United Nations for having done little to help resolve the conflicts he claims to have resolved.
“It’s important to talk about what the UN is and isn’t,” Dr. Kelly McHugh said, FSC Professor of Political Science.“It’s an organization made up of sovereign states and it’s going to do what those sovereign states want it to do. So when the UN doesn’t act, it’s usually because powerful states — so, Russia, [the] U.S., China are not in favor of particular actions.”
Notably, President Trump’s remarks featured his continued call to prevent “World War III” arising from the fight between Russia and Ukraine. He continues to stress the dangers of a nuclear conflict as he navigates negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Famously in March, as the New York Times and other outlets reported, President Trump publicly berated President Zelenskyy, chastising him as not being interested in peace.
Following a meeting with President Zelenskyy at the assembly meeting, President Trump posted on his Truth Social expressing that he now believed Ukraine would be able to reclaim territory captured by Russia.
Previously, the president has attempted to bring the two sides of the conflicts together, most especially by pressuring Ukraine to surrender some of the territory it has lost to the Russians. But Putin has proved a less than willing negotiator, as Carnegie Endowment Fellow Alexander Baunov points out: Russia has continued military advances despite its simultaneous push for negotiations. This appears to have frustrated President Trump who changes his position on Ukrainian land transfers.
“I think [President Trump is] coming to the realization about Putin that . . . this person has their own domestic interests and they’re not going to just do what you want,” Dr. McHugh said. “He had the meeting with Putin–” referring to the three hour Aug. 15 meeting in Anchorage, Alaska “–then nothing came of it, and he seems to have soured on it.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio would soon contradict the president’s position, stating that the war “cannot end militarily.” The President appears to be at a crossroads on Ukrainian policy, whether it will take the shape of his campaign promise to draw down or increase involvement in an attempt to force Putin to the negotiating table.
This general assembly meeting also saw ten nations announce their recognition of a Palestinian State. Major European powers, like the UK and France, have turned on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over its conduct in the Gaza military campaign, leaving the United States on its own financially supporting the Jewish state. CNN reports that as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before the general assembly, “scores” of delegates walked out of the room as Netanyahu spoke of “finishing the job” of defeating Hamas and rejecting Palestinian statehood. Dr. McHugh argues that this boycott was symbolic because “they [the delegates] feel like they have no influence over Netanyahu.” Despite the views of the delegation, the U.S. continues to ally itself and sell arms to Israel for its campaign in Gaza.
On the home front, however, popular sentiment continues to turn against Israel. An April Pew Research poll found that 53% of Americans now had a negative view of Israel, including a record low 37% of Republicans.
This trend within the GOP, traditionally pro-Israel, is led by young people. The frustration of youth over U.S. support of Israel boiled over on college campuses prior to the 2024 election when protests at major universities like Columbia and Harvard provoked criticism.
Since the Trump Administration took office, it has cracked down on campus protests. Marco Rubio, as Politico reports, is battling to deport five foreign-born Palestine protest organizers. NPR reports that the Department of Justice found Harvard had violated federal Civil Rights Law for failing to protect Jewish students from these protestors. The Trump Administration has taken a stand to crack down on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses even as Trump’s own coalition continues to feature more youth disillusioned with Israel.
Young Republicans, according to the same poll, have grown to view Israel unfavorably from a number of 35% to 50%. This is a radical shift as older voters begin to make up a much smaller share of the electoral base.
The President appears to stand athwart the United Nations on the issue of Israel Palestine and now with them on the issue of Russia-Ukraine, in both realms upsetting his base. The President is steering into choppy waters as he interacts with young people at home, as even his own base grows to be resistant of foreign wars and interventions. “If there were to be a situation where the U.S. had to ponder going to war,” Dr. McHugh speculates, “I think you’d see a real fight between people who want kind of a traditional Republican foreign policy versus the inherently ‘skeptical of nation building getting/involved’-wing.”
