Trump threatens Iran and rebrands AI as superintelligence at UN
President Trump used his UN General Assembly speech to threaten Iran, float a post-midterm deal, and rename artificial intelligence as superintelligence.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
President Donald Trump used his address to the UN General Assembly to defend his Iran policy, threaten military action and rebrand artificial intelligence as superintelligence. The speech lasted almost 45 minutes, shorter than some of his previous addresses, and he largely stuck to the teleprompter. It covered Iran, Cuba, Ukraine, Greenland, drug cartels, trade and AI.
On Iran, Trump said he had a big decision. He asked whether a deal would let Iran rebuild and become one of the greatest countries in the Middle East, or whether he should annihilate the Islamic Republic quickly and drive it into hell with no chance of survival. He called the Iranian government fanatical and accused it of bloodshed and mass murder. He said he had given Iran a chance to negotiate and that it made a mistake by not taking it. He also said European allies should remember that Iran had boasted of a missile that could reach Europe. The Iranian delegation had left the chamber beforehand, and the Cuban delegation walked out in protest during the address.
Trump said he believed a deal with Iran would be made right after the election, referring to the US midterms. He said Iran was waiting to see how he did, but that elections did not enter his mind on Iran. His only condition, he said, was that Iran would never have a nuclear weapon. At the same time, US negotiators including Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff held three hours of talks with Iran's foreign minister at the UN. Trump called it a very good meeting. Officials said the talks were the first since June and that Iran had softened some demands, dropping calls for US reparations and a US withdrawal from regional bases, but still demanding an end to US military operations, a lift of the naval blockade and the unfreezing of assets. Witkoff said he felt very good.
Trump also attacked the UN itself. He accused it of pushing a far-left agenda and called the Human Rights Council craven hypocrites. He urged nations that are members of the International Criminal Court to resign from what he called a rogue institution. He said there was no global government. On his way in, he told CNN it should not be covering him after the White House banned the network.
On AI, Trump rejected any globalist scheme to control artificial intelligence. He said the word artificial made intelligence sound fake, and announced that US documents would use superintelligence, or SI, instead. He said major new technology brings challenges, but compared critics of AI to the same people who predicted climate disaster and to those behind the Russia and Ukraine hoaxes. He said the US led China by a lot in superintelligence and would keep it that way. He did not want to stifle growth of something he said would be bigger than the Industrial Revolution or the internet. He said the Department of Justice would watch it closely but that his aim was to encourage it, not rein it in. The term superintelligence already has a meaning in tech circles.
On other topics, Trump said his administration sought fundamental change in Cuba, where the communist regime was failing and would fall. He said communism would never come to America, freedom would come to Cuba, and safety and security to Mexico. He threatened South American drug cartels and said he was reasserting American military power. On Ukraine, he claimed an end to Russia's war was near and said it would happen more quickly than people understood. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Trump and said he was ready to meet Vladimir Putin anytime and wanted a trilateral meeting. Trump also raised concern about Ukrainian attacks on Russian diesel facilities and their effect on global diesel prices. After the speech, the US signed a security agreement with Denmark and Greenland, ending his demand to own the Arctic territory. The Chinese president is due in Washington for talks on trade, AI, Russian oil and Iran.
The address contrasted with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who earlier stressed collaboration and multilateralism. Trump said to the victor belongs the spoils. Analysts noted that some of his claims about US investment and poverty figures were disputed. The speech was also seen through the prism of the US midterm elections, with Trump suggesting the Iran conflict would not be settled until after the vote.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC News | BBC One | BBC Two | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trump advocated replacing the term artificial intelligence with superintelligence in US documents and by other countries. | · | ||||
| Trump said he had a big decision to make about a deal with Iran and warned the US could annihilate it if no deal was reached. | · | ||||
| Trump predicted Iran would make a deal immediately after the election. | · | · | |||
| Trump said his administration sought fundamental change in Cuba and the Cuban delegation walked out in protest. | · | · | |||
| After Trump's speech, the US, Denmark and Greenland signed a security agreement, ending Trump's demand to own the Arctic territory. | · | · | · | ||
| Trump said he would not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. | · | · | · | ||
| Trump said the war between Ukraine and Russia would end sooner than people understand. | · | · | · | ||
| US and Iranian officials held talks; reports differed on progress and on whether Iran softened its demand for US reparations. | · | · | · | ||
| A BBC Newsnight interviewee said Iran received 300 billion dollars and then began bombing tankers. | · | · | · | · | |
| BBC Newsnight reported that previous Trump threats had not made Iran back down. | · | · | · | · | |
| BBC reported that some of Trump's claims about lifting Americans out of poverty and attracting trillions in investment were unverified or disputed, with confirmed investment lower than stated. | · | · | · | · | |
| China's president was due in Washington later in the week for talks covering trade, AI, Russian oil and Iran. | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
This bulletin led with Trump's AI rebranding and the Iran section of the speech, then turned to studio fact-checking. It highlighted the contrast with the UN Secretary-General's message of collaboration and flagged disputed claims about investment and poverty figures. Iran was treated as the central foreign policy story.
- “the use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake it makes it sound fake and it is not fake”
- “I have a big decision to make will a deal be made with Iran”
- “Iran took central stage”
Sky's coverage played large sections of Trump's speech before turning to its correspondent at the UN. It framed the address as a scripted, greatest-hits speech aimed at multiple audiences, especially American voters before the midterms. Its analysis focused on Iran as the least coherent section and on Trump's apparent admission that the conflict would not be resolved before the election.
- “He began his almost 45-minute speech relatively short for President Trump.”
- “He stuck to the teleprompter more so this year than he has last year”
- “I thought there were many familiar sound bites. It was kind of a greatest hit speech, wasn't it?”
This programme treated the speech as a context story, noting that superintelligence already has a technical meaning and that critics say Trump has made the world more divided. It also followed the diplomatic fallout, including the Greenland security deal and Cuba's walkout. Sarah Smith's report stressed Trump's hostility to the UN alongside his use of its platform.
- “He also said he wanted to rename artificial intelligence as superintelligence, and that is a term that in fact has already been used with an existing meaning in tech circles.”
- “After his speech, one major dispute was resolved. A security agreement between the US, Denmark and Greenland was signed that will put an end to President Trump's demand he should own the Arctic territory.”
- “Donald Trump has no great respect for the United Nations. Today, he accused it of imposing a far-left agenda, but he does relish the global platform it gives him”
The Wrap came to the story through the lens of coherence and politics, calling Trump's Iran section mixed and least coherent. It linked the timing of any deal to the US midterms and the cost-of-living pressures facing voters. It also widened out to UN sidelined diplomacy, including Zelensky's meetings and the UK prime minister's activity.
- “sending out quite mixed messages”
- “I think that Part of his long speech was the least coherent of any of it”
- “This isn't going to get done till after the midterm elections”
This bulletin gave a broad roundup of Trump's UN day, combining the Iran threat, the Greenland security deal, Ukraine diplomacy and the AI rebrand. It then looked ahead to the Chinese president's visit to Washington for talks expected to cover trade, AI, Russian oil and Iran. The tone was brisk and event-led rather than analytical.
- “President Trump turned to the issue dominating global concerns AI”
- “A security agreement was signed between the U.S. Denmark and Greenland”
- “She is flying into Washington for one-on-one talks with Donald Trump that will focus on trade and AI”
ITV paired the theatre of Trump's speech with the quieter diplomacy happening in the margins. It gave detailed reporting on the first US-Iran talks since June, including Iranian demands and signs of flexibility. It also covered Trump's attack on UN bodies, his CNN swipe and his AI rebrand.
- “The president also used his UN address to rebrand AI as SI, super intelligence.”
- “Around the same time President Trump was pondering in front of the UN whether to annihilate Iran, his peace negotiators and Iran's foreign minister were actually holding talks.”
- “Mr Trump called it a very good meeting”
Newsnight used the speech as a hook for a more sceptical discussion of whether Trump's threats work. The focus was on Iran's failure to back down, the domestic unpopularity of the war and the possibility that action would wait until after the midterms. It also raised press freedom after the White House banned three outlets.
- “those threats haven't worked because Iran haven't backed down. Why is he still making these threats?”
- “I think he may wait till after the midterms”
- “I think the president's now faced with that dilemma and I think he's gonna have to act because I don't think they want to do an agreement”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.