Let me put my biases right up front: I like President Trump and agree with most of his policies. I appreciate his tactics, which can be bewildering but, more often than not, are effective. I like his often sly sense of humor. And I really struggle with his speeches. They’re so discursive, and I feel he often fails to convey core messages that would help Americans understand his policies.
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That’s why I was especially thrilled with his speech yesterday at the UN, which was a model of clarity, both practically and morally. If you haven’t read or watched the speech, I recommend that you do.
Trump began with a tight statement about his domestic accomplishments, one that every Republican candidate should memorize so that s/he can raise it during speeches, town halls, media appearances, etc. In brief, he points to:
- One million new private sector jobs
- The highest number of employed Americans in American history
- The lowest poverty rate in American history
- Record low African American and Hispanic poverty rates
- Record high household income rates
- Massive tax cuts
- Massive overseas investments in America
- A soaring stock market
- Zero illegal aliens admitted into the U.S. in 16 months
- Largest recorded drop in violent crime
- Lowest murder rate in America since 1900
Also, regarding rising gas prices, which the media obsessively highlight:
For those looking at oil prices during the Iran War, here’s something to consider — and to share when people try to shame Trump compared to that paragon of presidential virtue, Barack Obama, or his mini-me, Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/9i0HwGmnHI
— Andrea Widburg (@Bookwormroom) September 23, 2026
Trump’s domestic record is extraordinary. In a sane world, one with honest media, he’d be the most popular president in American history. The GOP and its candidates need to do a much better job of making Americans aware of the full scope of Trump’s economic accomplishments.
However, where I found Trump’s speech most interesting was his courage and moral clarity about Iran:
For fifty one years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more. From the first day I entered the political arena, I’ve been unwavering. I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
Trump notes that he immediately tried to negotiate a peaceful outcome with Iran, only to be rebuffed. So, Operation Midnight Hammer buried Iran’s nuclear stockpile (or at least most of it) beneath literal mounds of rubble.
Despite that, Iran continued to work on a nuclear program that would put vast parts of the world under its nuclear umbrella. “If they had succeeded,” said Trump, “that wicked regime would have been free to spread terror and death forever, knowing that any attempt to stop them would face an arsenal of nuclear annihilation.”
Image created using AI.
Trump also acknowledged Iran’s role three years ago in the October 7 attack on Israel, when “terrorists funded by Iran tortured, mutilated, and killed 1,200 very innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans and many babies. Babies. Little, tiny, beautiful babies.” He added that Iran’s Supreme Leader celebrated that massacre and called it “a service to humanity.” That’s a powerful acknowledgment that civilians weren’t tragic collateral damage in an actual war; they were Iran’s and Hamas’s targets.
Trump continued by reminding the audience that Iran had slaughtered 72,000 of its citizens in 2026 alone. “Just imagine such a vile regime were ever empowered to carry out large scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield.” And then, the scathing indictment of world leaders:
This was the reality we had to confront, a reality that far too many preferred to ignore. They all ignored it. Many presidents and many others just wanted to ignore it. They were unwilling to do anything about it, but they knew the problem.
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Trump would not:
As a result of Operation Epic Fury, all 159 ships of their navy are now lying at the bottom of the sea. Likewise, their air force is gone. Their radar is gone. Their anti aircraft equipment is gone. Their missiles and drone manufacturing capacity is almost gone. Their economy is gone.
And yet, despite its economic collapse and inflation out of control, Iran will not stop. The UN helped by condemning attacks on commercial shipping, but Trump demands more: The world must step up to keep the pressure on. He says there are only two possible outcomes. One is explicitly contingent on Iran and the other implicitly contingent on whether the world community is weak or strong:
Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.
And while Trump acknowledges that Iran is trying to game the midterm elections, he doesn’t care:
I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran. It doesn’t even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.
That is courage. That is moral clarity. That is a reverence for national security, not just for America, but for the world.
In addition to discussing what Iran did and what needs to be done to Iran if the mullahs don’t cool their jets, Trump talked about his foreign policy accomplishments in the Middle East (although Gazans are so foul the ceasefire cannot last), other wars he ended (Cambodia/Thailand, Kosovo/Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo/Rwanda, Pakistan/India, Armenia/Azerbaijan), the turnaround in Venezuela, and the Greenland Agreement. He continues to hold out hope regarding Russia and Ukraine, but there, too, I have my doubts.
Trump pointed out that he’s reformed the UN, too, although I believe that institution is so corrupt (I mean, thanks to Obama’s help, its Secretary-General is a pro-China communist) that there is no saving it.
Finally, Trump stood behind AI (or, as he now calls it, “superintelligence”), and he will not be swayed by the same people who panicked about climate change.
Trump is a practical visionary, which is one of the rarest combinations of traits in the world. He is a patriot and a peacemaker. Yes, he has his flaws (all great men do), but he is presiding over a most golden of golden ages, and if more people understood that, these midterms would be a red wave.
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YouTube screen grab.