WTH: Trump at the UN. Brett Schaefer Explains.
What the Hell Is Going On
AEI Podcasts
4.4 • 633 Ratings
🗓️ 2 October 2025
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Trump’s speech before the General Assembly has sparked debate over its style and substance, raising questions about UN organizations that do not serve American interests. As we continue to foot its ever-growing bill, the United Nations system appears to be failing in peacekeeping and security. How did Trump’s speech signal a shift in our relationship with the international organization? When will the 180-day review be released? And what should it say about long-awaited UN reform?
Brett D. Schaefer is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on multilateral treaties, peacekeeping, and the United Nations and international organizations. Before joining AEI, Mr. Schaefer was the Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs at the Heritage Foundation. Previously, he was a member of the United Nations Committee on Contributions and an expert on the UN Task Force for the United States Institute of Peace.
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast is brought to you by the American Enterprise Institute. |
| 0:03.1 | If you like what you hear, please subscribe, rate, review, and share. |
| 0:07.1 | Thanks for listening. Here's our show. |
| 0:08.7 | What the hell is going on? |
| 0:10.5 | What's really going on? |
| 0:12.0 | We said, what the hell happened? |
| 0:13.5 | You don't have to know what the hell is on it. |
| 0:15.6 | They see what's going on. |
| 0:16.7 | I don't know what's going on. |
| 0:18.0 | What is going on? |
| 0:20.0 | We must find out what's going on. What is going on? We must find out what is going on. |
| 0:29.7 | Hi, I'm Danielle Pletka. |
| 0:31.7 | And I'm Mark Thiessen. |
| 0:32.8 | Welcome to our podcast. |
| 0:34.1 | What the hell is going on? |
| 0:36.6 | Mark, what the hell is going on at the UN? And why won't it |
| 0:39.9 | stop? What the hell is going on is Donald Trump had a triumphant visit to the United Nations, |
| 0:48.2 | gave, in my view, one of the most enjoyable speeches. I will maybe you can see not the greatest oratorically speech ever given at the General Assembly, but one of the most enjoyable speeches. I will, maybe you can see not the greatest oratorically speech |
| 0:55.8 | ever given at the General Assembly, but one of the most enjoyable, one of the most delicious |
| 1:00.9 | speeches that a American president has ever given. We talk about this in our discussion, but, |
| 1:08.0 | you know, I was up at the UN with Senator Jesse Helms in, you know, |
| 1:11.7 | 2000 or so when he gave his speech to the UN Security Council. And he basically delivered |
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