In short
CBC Washington correspondents discuss whether Donald Trump wants allies, focusing on his UN General Assembly speech, harsh rhetoric toward Iran, and a broader “America First” pattern of going it alone. They connect this to strained ties with Canada, a Greenland security deal, and Trump’s outreach to China and Belarus, plus concerns about AI policy ahead of Xi Jinping’s visit.
Guests (backgrounds)
Willie Lowry (CBC Washington correspondent reporting from Jerusalem) and Paul Hunter (CBC Washington correspondent in Washington, D.C.). Katie Simpson is also present as a host/producer voice.
Key claims
Trump frames the U.S. as the world’s problem-solver while using coercive, zero-sum tactics; allies are increasingly alienated (“rupture”); U.S. foreign-policy credibility is weakening; Trump may be trying to project strength amid domestic political trouble.
Notable examples
UN Iran threats (“annihilate” language); no mention of Canada; U.S.-Denmark-Greenland deal expanding U.S. security say; Trump potash comments targeting Canada and courting Belarus; upcoming Xi meeting and “superintelligence” framing.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOAnalyzing Trump's UN Speech
0:30 to 3:17
Discussion about Donald Trump's recent speech at the UN General Assembly.
“Paul, it's so nice to have you here in the studio.”
Context of Trump's Foreign Policy
3:17 to 9:10
Examining the implications of Trump's foreign policy and its reception.
“Okay, Paul, let's talk more about the UN speech.”
Greenland Deal and Sovereignty Issues
9:10 to 14:01
Exploration of the Greenland deal and concerns about US influence.
“And if we sort of take a step back and look at, you know, the speech and more broadly U.S.”
Trump's Influence on Global Sovereignty
14:01 to 16:30
Discussion on Trump's approach to international relations and sovereignty issues, particularly regarding Greenland and Canada.
“But if you take a step back, what does it feel like?”
Shifting Alliances: The Case of Belarus
16:31 to 19:37
Analysis of Trump's shift in alliances, specifically moving from Canada to Belarus and its implications.
“purchasing Canadian potash and looking to cut a deal with Belarus to purchase their potash instead at a lower price, which I really think is, again, another one of these sort of reflection moments that is more symbolic.”
Concerns Over Artificial Intelligence
19:38 to 24:32
A deep dive into the implications of AI development under the current administration and the unpredictability it brings.
“And it's like he feels scorned by traditional allies.”
America's Diminishing Global Standing
24:33 to 28:00
Exploring America's changing role on the world stage and the alienation of traditional allies.
“And Trump has tried to frame any sort of pushback when it comes to development of AI or data centers or anything related to that realm.”
Wrap-Up and Thank Yous
28:00 to 28:29
The hosts summarize the discussion and thank each other
“and how a Russian oligarch allegedly paid for wedding festivities, a lot of money for wedding festivities.”
Listener Engagement and Announcements
28:30 to 29:17
Hosts encourage listener feedback and share upcoming episode topics
“send an email to WashingtonPod, all one word, at cbc.ca.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Paul Hunter:Is your feed full of wild weather, climate headlines, and a barrage of hot takes? Same. I'm meteorologist Johanna Wagstaff, and on our podcast, What on Earth, my team and I break down the actual science behind the news. We unpack the big climate and weather stories, explore and scrutinize real solutions, and reveal a little wonder about our planet along the way. No doom scrolling, no judging, just facts you can trust. Find and follow What on Earth every Saturday, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:29Katie Simpson:This is a CBC Podcast.
0:34Paul Hunter:Paul, it's so nice to have you here in the studio. Hey, I'm glad to be here. In the office. And Willie joining us today from Jerusalem. Hello.
0:42Katie Simpson:Hey, guys. How's it going? I miss you all. No, you don't.
0:47Paul Hunter:I do.
0:47Katie Simpson:I do. I genuinely do.
0:50Willy Lowry:Look, our Middle East coverage is in good hands with you over there, Willie. Kind of you to say.
0:55Paul Hunter:Yes, and we appreciate you staying up a little bit later to have this conversation with us, given the time zone differences. We are having this conversation just after noon on Tuesday. And of course, we've all been watching what's going on in New York City with Donald Trump, his big speech to the UN General Assembly. Both of you guys, what did you make of it?
1:14Willy Lowry:No mention of Canada, I think. So there's that. And, you know, he hit a lot of international bases, but he couldn't not inject the midterms into it, smack in the middle of his thoughts on Iran. Willie?
1:26Katie Simpson:Yeah, I think a lot of his greatest hits, it went along the lines of so many of his previous speeches, of his previous UNGA address last year. But some very, very harsh words for Iran. That's kind of the part of the speech that really stuck out to me.
1:41Willy Lowry:I think that's the headline, yeah.
1:42Paul Hunter:Yeah. And Trump, of course, he had an agenda with his speech at the UN. And this is how he is framing it.
1:49Katie Simpson:The entire world is being lifted by the wealth, strength, spirit and momentum of a newly energized and a very powerful United States of America. And just as we moved quickly to address problems we inherited at home, we have acted with decisiveness and speed to reshape the world stage and solve problems that have plagued us for far too long. So Trump was clearly trying to position himself as the world's problem solver in this address, and he may continue to present that narrative at his other international events this week.
2:28Willy Lowry:He's got a deal to sign with Greenland and Denmark. You mentioned that in the speech. He's hosting the Chinese president Thursday. He's even trying to get Belarus to sell him potash in another snub to Canada, blood potash, as Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe calls it.
2:43Paul Hunter:Between Trump's speech and his meetings, a theme is emerging, a willingness to go it alone on the world stage in pursuit of Trump's America First agenda, willing to risk additional strain on global relationships. So this week we're asking, is Trump even interested in having allies?
3:02Katie Simpson:I'm Willie Lowry. I'm Paul Hunter.
3:04Paul Hunter:And I'm Katie Simpson. We are CBC's Washington Correspondents, two blocks from the White House.
3:17Paul Hunter:Okay, Paul, let's talk more about the UN speech. You know, what really stood out to you from this address here?
3:25Willy Lowry:Well, the escalator going in worked. Unlike last year, teleprompter worked. You know, to the speech itself, relative to a year ago, the U.S. is, what, six, seven months now into the war on Iran. The U.S. relationship with allies such as Canada has cratered. The war in Ukraine continues. And meanwhile, per a new poll that is out, the views of Americans on Trump's foreign policy is plummeting. Twenty nine percent, I think, now say he's doing a good job on foreign policy. Two thirds of Americans say he's not handling the war in Iran well. So it's a very complicated time for the U.S. and Trump in terms of foreign policy as this speech comes.
4:13Paul Hunter:Yeah. And Willie, you are following this from Jerusalem. The big headline that came out of the speech has to do with what the U.S. president had to say about Iran.
4:23Katie Simpson:But I have a big decision to make. 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. They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election.
5:12Katie Simpson:What they don't realize is that I'm not running.
5:15Paul Hunter:Do I annihilate? Do I drive them into hell? There's a lot of dark language there, Willie. What do you make of what we heard here?
5:28Katie Simpson:Yeah, that bellicose language is nothing new, quite frankly. he has been uttering these threats to Iran, more or less since the very beginning of this military campaign, which of course now dates all the way back to February 28, seven months. I think he's in a rut. It's clear that he doesn't know how to end this war. As Paul alluded to, Americans aren't happy with it, right? This is a war that isn't just having like this kind of amorphous effect. It's having a direct impact on Americans' wallets, driving up the price of oil, driving up the price of gas. I think with this speech, he was really trying to present that strong kind of bravado that he typically likes to present.
6:21Katie Simpson:And it was interesting that he said, I'm not running in these midterms, which is, of course, the opposite of what he told Republicans to think at the convention just the other week, right?
6:34Paul Hunter:Yeah. And that really points to the broader context of this moment. Paul, you sort of alluded to this sort of off the top. You know, Trump is in a moment right now where if you look at the national polling numbers, it suggests he is not very popular among the general public. If the polls are accurate, it suggests that his Republican Party is going to lose control of at least the House, if not possibly the Senate as well. On the world stage, he's alienated his traditional allies because of his trade politics, as well as all of the instability in the Middle East, driving energy prices up, causing problems all around the world and domestically in the United States as well, when he's in a moment where he's in trouble.
7:14Paul Hunter:And so what does he do? Project an image of strength and try to coerce everyone to seeing it from his perspective, sort of trying to tie it all together that way?
7:25Willy Lowry:You know, it's all confrontation all the time with Trump, right? I mean, to go back to terms of, you know, his relationship with the rest of the world, to go back to Trump 1.0, you know, there were behind the scenes conversations coming out of, you know, different meetings in different parts of the world where you'd hear, and especially in Europe, where I think European countries were looking at America in Trump 1.0 and saying, maybe we have to like move on from the United States. Maybe, maybe this isn't going to be a good lasting thing, but then they, they didn't really. Right. And then they, I think they started counting down the days until it ended in the hopes that he would not win reelection.
8:04Willy Lowry:He did not. And then things kind of came back to quote unquote normal under Biden, let's say from the view of more traditional from the view of the rest of the world looking in, but then comes Trump back. And like now people are saying, well, wait a second. Like this is these are terms we've used in this podcast before that the United States is is not a reliable partner. It is not a dependable partner. And that this isn't going to be unique to the Trump time is is in all likelihood. So so the rest of the world is really now saying now we really do have to move on. But you listen to the words of Trump.
8:42Willy Lowry:I mean, he's, you know, the America first, the isolationism, the protectionism that'll be, you know, in the history books when it comes to Trump's time in office. And so look at the other countries, look at Canada, right? Look at Greenland, look at Taiwan, look at South Korea, look at Ukraine. It's the rest of the world sees what Trump is doing, putting America first, being the bully. And they're saying we have to move on.
9:07Katie Simpson:I think, you know, Paul is right there. That first term, the world viewed as an aberration, but this time it's just the new norm.
9:16Paul Hunter:It is. And if we sort of take a step back and look at, you know, the speech and more broadly U.S. foreign policy decisions, you know, in specifically Trump's second term, are we starting to see a shift to both of you guys? Are we starting to see a shift with, you know, people being willing to side with the American point of view?
9:34Katie Simpson:I mean, I think, yes, at the risk of bringing this back to Canada. I mean, obviously, look at the path that Carney has charted thus far. It's one that I think a lot of European nations are finding quite attractive. That being said, no one really wants to poke the bear unduly or unnecessarily. So then, you know, look forward or look at what we saw today with this US-Denmark-Greenland deal, right, where you have sides sort of appeasing the president, but also were they?
10:12Willy Lowry:Well, actually, I think Greenland is an interesting thing to look at right now, right? Like somehow, you know, Trump got them to sign off on a deal that doesn't actually change too much, right? I mean, that's – which I think is important in the sense that it allows Trump to claim victory of a kind, which I think conventional wisdom is that's the way you deal with Trump. You find a way to let him say out loud that he got something, that he won. But the Greenland deal doesn't really change too much. And yet it does give a little, right? It gives the U.S. more say in security matters in Greenland, which is something that's how they're claiming victory here.
10:57Willy Lowry:Rubio said the same thing. This gives the U.S. greater security as well. But at the same time, I think people in Greenland are just kind of, you know, as they sign off on it, they're holding their nose because it feels like bullying at the end of the day. And that gets back to sort of Trump foreign policy, it would seem right now, is to bully and to sort of push your way until you get something. In this case, it's a slightly expanded security deal with Greenland that sounds like, from Trump's perspective, victory.
11:29Paul Hunter:And Trump used his speech to make an example of Greenland and to frame it, as he so often does in his zero-sum politics, as his victory.
11:40Katie Simpson:We will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent and also Europe and other places. No U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland anymore or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval. We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations. We'll be building two very major military bases. This agreement will be signed later today, and I look forward to working with the wonderful people of Denmark and Greenland. It's been a great experience, amazing experience, and we've really formed a bond in doing it.
12:27Paul Hunter:So right after this speech, Donald Trump was ushered into a room on the sidelines sort of of the General Assembly where the speeches are given. and there was a signing ceremony and there were a number of reporters in the room and they kept yelling at the president. Does this mean that ownership is off the table? Does this mean like, does this satisfy your demand that the United States own Greenland? And he smiled, but he wouldn't answer the question. And some of the things that the president said in that sort of strike a couple of chords to me that are very similar to the ongoing situation with Canada.
13:00Paul Hunter:Some of the reasons that the Canadian government walked away from that trade deal, Canada being the only country to have done that, to have a deal sort of within signing range, but then walk away at the last minute. When he talks about how no U.S. adversary will be able to establish a military presence in Greenland, okay, that's not something that anyone sort of was seeking. But there are concerns about Russian and Chinese military presence, particularly as global warming takes place and it changes shipping routes, those kinds of things. That is an issue. But no one's going to be able to make sensitive investments there without our express written approval.
13:42Paul Hunter:that the Americans are going to get to have a say on what happens in Greenland in terms of, you know, its investment over its economic growth, those kinds of things. I get that it's in the lens of national security and they don't want to see Chinese or Russian investment. That's really what this is about.
Read the full transcript
13:58Willy Lowry:It still feels like an infringement on sovereignty, though, doesn't it? Exactly. That's what that seems like. And so when I say it feels like bullying and the US or Trump forcing its way in, that's, if you parse the words or you look at, you know, Trump not answering the question, you could have one, you could draw one inference. But if you take a step back, what does it feel like? It feels like an infringement on sovereignty would say, I think, you know, any number of Greenlanders. And don't forget, you know, when Trump first started talking about Greenland, what, about a year ago, I guess, or something, Greenland started to actually prepare for an invasion or a military incursion on Greenland.
14:38Willy Lowry:They took that very seriously. So again, when they sit down, should we sign off on this? Consider that, that they were worried that the U.S. would actually do that, which would have been, I don't know. I don't know how to describe what that would have been. That would have been beyond the pale.
14:52Paul Hunter:I'll never forget, there was a delegation from Greenland in D.C., and they were having a number of high-level meetings, and we were covering it. And the footage we had of the team from Greenland after they just come out of high level meetings with top Trump administration officials, they all came out and they all huddled together and they pulled out their pack of cigarettes and they all just stood there just smoking pretty late. They looked stressed and it looked like this smoking was some stress relief smoking. I will. I opened my story for the National with that viz because I thought this is not something you see.
15:28Paul Hunter:And it looked like it looked like a moment that was very stressful.
15:31Willy Lowry:And I'm not going to open the Canada bucket, but that is the first thing I thought about when the Greenland news broke last week was what does this mean for Canada? Again, conversation for another time, but that's it's it's funny how those things work in your mind. And again, Trump needs. Well, let's open the Canada bucket. Just a smidge. I love opening a Canada bucket. Trump needs to be able to say, look what I've got. We won. They lost. And he has to say that out loud as well. And so one does wonder where this goes now for our country.
16:03Paul Hunter:One other thing I think to sort of explore the Canada bucket just a little bit more there, Paul, you mentioned off the top here, there was no mention of Canada in this speech. And I know that the Canadian delegation that was in New York, there was always concern that is Donald Trump going to use this opportunity to make Canada a punching bag as he often does in his public events. But if we're going to get into Trump sort of reshaping his global alliances, I think one thing this week that Trump's unexpected post on social media where he said that he's looking to get away from purchasing Canadian potash and looking to cut a deal with Belarus to purchase their potash instead at a lower price, which I really think is, again, another one of these sort of reflection moments that is more symbolic.
16:52Paul Hunter:and taking a dig at Canada, it illustrates how in pursuit of his America First agenda, Donald Trump is willing to cast traditional allies aside in pursuit of, again, what he sees as ways to have a victory. Belarus, of course, is an ally of Russia, helping Vladimir Putin launch the unjustified invasion and war in Ukraine. He's described as Alexander Lukashenko described as the last dictator of Europe. And this is the man that Donald Trump is looking to cozy up to. He's been trying to thaw relations with Belarus since he returned to office. But in willing to take a dig at Canada, a traditional American ally with a reliable source of potash, he's willing to sort of cause, whether this is a real threat, a realistic sort of situation that the Americans are actually going to follow through on.
17:48Paul Hunter:It's one of those things that, again, stokes chaos into the traditional sort of rules-based relationships that exist right now, all in pursuit of saying, I win, you lose. This time, Canada's the loser in this.
18:02Willy Lowry:It's important to underline. There are no U.S. tariffs on Canadian potash going into the U.S. right now. On the potash from Belarus, it has to go, it has to be transited through Russia, right to get out first of all they don't have nearly as much as saskatchewan does it makes no sense logistic it makes no sense so they've also said they don't have and they don't have enough exactly so so it gets back to his trump just trolling to your point katie is he just like flipping the bird at canada as a as a tactic in getting under the skin of carney or whatever it is of just which brings it back to carney's you know word rupture and this gets back to the theme of this conversation.
18:43Willy Lowry:It's like things are different with the United States now. You're going to get trolled. You're going to get bullied. You're going to, the U S is a very powerful force, not just militarily, but obviously economically. Trump's got a big stick to wave and he's not afraid to wave it. And the rest of the world is feeling that. And that is the, that is the relationship that the U S has is now has created is continuing to create with the rest of the world and the rest of the world is realizing it. You know, Trump does have a history of a, you know, if not cozying up, getting along
19:15Katie Simpson:with dictators, you know, obviously Putin, Kim Jong-un as well, right from Trump 1.0. So, you know, weird way, it kind of reminds me of that time during his first term when And Trudeau and other world leaders were kind of caught essentially laughing at him on camera or on hot mic. And it's like he feels scorned by traditional allies. And so he's willing to make new friends.
20:19Katie Simpson:Transcription by CastingWords We have to have a break every 15 minutes. And I said, a break every 15 minutes. I said, who's his agent? You can hear the full conversation now on Q, Tom Power.
20:33Paul Hunter:Trump is going to finish his week by hosting one of the most important meetings he's probably going to host all year. President Xi of China, he will be in Washington. Xi Jinping, one source of tension between the U.S. and China right now. So you've got tariffs, you've got the ongoing trade war, and then you've got AI. Trump addressed this challenge at the U.N. General Assembly.
20:55Katie Simpson:From this point forward, all of United States documents and hopefully the world's will be changed to use the much more accurate term super as opposed to artificial. So it's super intelligence. In other words, welcome to the new world of superintelligence-SI. Let's see if that goes. It sounds much better. It is much better. And it's much more accurate. Let's see if I have any power. Maybe I do and maybe I don't. We're going to find out pretty soon.
21:28Paul Hunter:On such a crucial, important issue that is going to shape and define the future, I don't even know where we begin to unpack that.
21:37Willy Lowry:Yeah, you know, I mean, I don't know. I think the bottom line or a bottom line, I guess, on AI and China is that a lot of people worry about, you know, which country will gain the upper hand on this, the U.S. or China. Well, a lot of others worry that that's kind of besides the point that it's the tech giant companies have already, you know, allowed, sent AI to get to be approaching the point of no return. I'm not trying to be all doomsday here, but it's like, you know, a lot of people are saying the issue is the tech giants who have gotten to this point. And, you know, China may well be, you know, as it comes to Washington this week, there's an argument that says China could just should just sit back and let Trump do his thing.
22:26Willy Lowry:that as the U.S. sort of falls away from its traditional allies, as it falls behind in its military stocks, as it falls behind in e-vehicles and AI potentially. I mean, China may well just want to sort of come hang out with Trump, not let anything go off the rails and then go back and let Trump do his thing. I don't know. I don't know what I would – if I'm she, what would the approach be? It's a tough one.
23:00Katie Simpson:I'm going to be vulnerable with you guys right now. There's two subjects that are just too profound for me that I don't really like to think or deal with. One is Paul's favorite subject, space. Too big for me. It's too immense. And the second one is artificial intelligence. It scares the daylights out of me. I'm not smart enough to really understand what its capabilities are other than to realize that they are immense and I can't even probably imagine what they are. And to have this rapid explosion of development coincide with this administration, I find pretty terrifying.
23:45Willy Lowry:I think that's an important point because I think we don't know – to borrow from Rumsfeld from years gone by, Donald Rumsfeld, we don't know what we don't know. There are a lot of unknowns unknowns with AI or SI as Trump would have it. Yeah. But I think you're right, Willie, to underline that the two countries we're watching most carefully on AI are China and America. And right now, America is at its most unpredictable point in memory. And that's that's a disconcerting circumstance to be in.
24:26Paul Hunter:And Trump has given all indications that he does not want to put any guardrails on the development of artificial intelligence. Remember, the stock markets are doing incredibly well because of the massive gains made by these huge technology giants. That's a really important point. Yeah. And Trump has tried to frame any sort of pushback when it comes to development of AI or data centers or anything related to that realm. He's tried to push it to the same sort of bucket where he dismisses things by describing it as a hoax, comparing it to different sort of attacks on political attacks on him that he's weathered over the years.
25:03Paul Hunter:And this is just another one of those things. So it is it is it is this week's meeting with Xi Jinping in Washington. Paul, I think you sort of really framed it well when you talked about, does Xi Jinping just come on in, let America continue on the course that it's in and not try to sort of disrupt Donald Trump's path that America is, that Donald Trump is in a position where domestically he's becoming increasingly weaker. We'll see what happens with the midterm elections. Does it make it harder for him to implement his agenda if there is not Republican control in Congress? And does that mean that there's a reset on the playing field when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump on the world stage and how he manages his fortunes at home?
25:45Paul Hunter:So it's one of those moments where I don't think anyone can predict what's going to happen. Normally when world leaders get together, these things are so highly orchestrated and all of the things that are going to be announced are planned and advanced and everyone knows what's going to happen. And guess what? Not this one and not many of them with Donald Trump. So I think it brings this back to the key question of this entire conversation is, you know, in all of this, where do Trump's international alliances lie? And does Trump in this moment even care?
26:20Willy Lowry:Two very different questions. Very. I'm not sure Trump does because I think Trump is and the people around him are firm believers that what they're doing is the right thing and the right thing for America. I think they truly believe that, which means that they're not about to change their position. I think the rest of the world is looking at America and saying, what is this place? This is not the country that we knew. And we better accept that and deal with it because it ain't going to change. Willie?
26:49Katie Simpson:Yeah, I think Paul's right. Listen, I think America still remains the biggest draw on the world stage. I remember the first time that I traveled with former Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Munich Security Conference, and it was really just amazing watching essentially every country in the world kind of fight for his time trying to get onto the US delegations, Florida to speak with US officials. And that remains true today. But that cachet is waning, right? The star is a lot dimmer than it once was. And that's most of it is because of the way Trump has alienated so many of America's traditional allies.
27:38And, you know, Prime Minister Carney coined it, called it a rupture.
27:43Katie Simpson:And I think a lot of the world didn't want to believe that. But now they've kind of come to see that, at least in their perspective as what is happening.
27:52Paul Hunter:And you know what? We're having this conversation about, you know, Donald Trump, his international relationships and sort of where alliances fall. And I can't believe we had this entire conversation and we didn't talk about Donald Trump Jr. and how a Russian oligarch allegedly paid for wedding festivities, a lot of money for wedding festivities. But we'll have that conversation in another podcast, I'm sure. OK, I think that's a good spot to leave it there for this week. Willie, please just put that right there. Willie, continue to stay safe and do great reporting from Jerusalem. And, Paul, thank you.
28:27Willy Lowry:Thanks, Katie.
28:28Katie Simpson:Hey, Willie. Thanks, Katie. And if you have something that you'd like to ask or feedback about what you're hearing, send an email to WashingtonPod, all one word, at cbc.ca. That's WashingtonPod at cbc.ca. We'd especially like to know if you have any questions about the upcoming midterm elections in early November. We'll be doing some special episodes on those. and can also leave us a comment on Spotify.
28:53Willy Lowry:And if you like what you're hearing, spread the word. Tell a friend about this podcast and follow Two Blocks from the White House on your favorite podcast app.
29:03Paul Hunter:Okay, everyone. We'll talk again next week. Bye. Ciao. Bye.
29:16Katie Simpson:For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.
From the publisher
Perhaps, but they're not the same ones that the U.S. has historically aligned with. While addressing global leaders at the UN, Trump said he could either make a deal with Iran or "annihilate the Islamic Republic." He signed a security deal with Greenland, after threatening to seize the territory for months. He also rejected international calls for oversight of AI, as he prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping. As Trump forges his own brand of diplomacy, Washington correspondents Katie Simpson, Willy Lowry and Paul Hunter ask: Who are Trump's allies anymore? And does he even care?
