Trump at U.N.: Deal After the Midterms, or “Annihilate” the Islamic Republic

President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that he faces “a big decision” on the war with Iran: accept a deal that lets the Islamic Republic rebuild, or “annihilate” the regime and “drive them into hell with no chance of survival.”

The remarks update the choice he previewed last week in an Axios interview. On Tuesday he put it on the record in front of the Iranian delegation and the rest of the hall.

“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?” Trump said. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

He added that he believes a deal will come “right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to. They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don’t realize is that I’m not running. I did that already and won in a landslide.”

Trump called Iran “the number one sponsor of terror” and said the regime had been “the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more.” He said that after taking office he offered Tehran “full economic cooperation in exchange for ending their nuclear program and support for terror, but they refused. They absolutely refused. That was a big mistake.”

He then listed claimed results of the campaign that began Feb. 28. In Operation Midnight Hammer, he said, U.S. forces “obliterated their nuclear program beneath mountains of rubble.” In Operation Epic Fury, he said, “all 159 ships of their navy are now lying at the bottom of the sea.” He said Iran’s air force, radar, and anti-aircraft equipment are gone, missile and drone manufacturing is “almost gone,” and inflation inside Iran is “well over 300 percent.” He denied reports that U.S. stocks of munitions are running low and said 18 new munitions plants are under construction.

“I call on all nations to join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions, and cease their support of terror,” he said. He thanked the U.N. Security Council for a resolution condemning Iranian attacks on commercial shipping, which he said drew more co-sponsors than any Security Council resolution in history.

He tied the threat to the anniversary calendar in New York. America, he said, had just marked 25 years since Sept. 11. In two weeks the world will mark three years since the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, “where terrorists funded by Iran tortured, mutilated, and killed 1,200 innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans.” He said Iran’s supreme leader called that massacre “a service to humanity.”

Cuban delegates walked out when Trump called the communist government in Havana a “failed state.” He also urged governments to replace the phrase “artificial intelligence” with “superintelligence” in official documents.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to address the Assembly this week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday on Fox & Friends that Trump is open to a meeting on the sidelines; no meeting had been announced when Trump spoke.

Trump has said he wants to hear from Gulf leaders in New York before he chooses the next phase of the war. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent separately set a Wednesday deadline to ground Iranian airlines worldwide, a parallel economic track that does not depend on a new battlefield order.

The speech does not resolve the choice he described. It does put a public deadline language around it: isolation now, a possible deal after Nov. 3, and a stated alternative if Tehran waits too long.