Trump heaps praise on Middle East leaders at UN meeting on Iran war

Submitted by Yasmine El-Sabawi on Tue, 09/22/2026 - 20:54

No substantive outcome was announced from the US president's gathering with regional stakeholders

US President Donald Trump meets with Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on 22 September 2026. From left to right: Prime Minister of Iraq, Ali al-Zaidi; President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; King of Jordan Abdullah II; Trump; Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani; President of Syria Ahmad al-Sharaa; and Prime Minister of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via AFP) Off US President Donald Trump held a highly anticipated meeting with Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, where he showered high praise on the officials but left the meeting with no major announcements on the turmoil in the region.

Shortly before his meeting on Tuesday, Trump confirmed to reporters that his envoys had sat down with Iranian officials for a three-hour discussion, as all sides seek a face-saving off-ramp from the war.

"They had a very good meeting, a very productive meeting," he said. "They have another one scheduled in the very near future."

As he later sat down with regional stakeholders, Trump credited his negotiators, special envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has no official role in the administration, as having led the talks.

"We'll see what happens with that... We've been mediating for a while, but I think there's a lot of momentum for them to make a deal. That's what we're hearing from everybody," Trump said.

This year, the US president was flanked by Jordan's King Abdullah; Qatar's Sheikh Tamim; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa; Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi; Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly; Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam; and Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sabah Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabah.

So far, Trump has reserved his highest praise at the UNGA for this particular group of leaders.

"It's an honour to be here with some of America's greatest and closest friends, allies, and partners to continue our effort toward a safer and more prosperous Middle East," the president said. "Special place, and it's become more special over the last period of time since I've been in politics... I've got a lot of great friends sitting around this table. They're amazing people, and we make sure their lives are good."

Every nation at the table around him, he added, "has been outstanding", and Trump thanked them for what he said has been some $21 trillion in US investments from them since he came into office in January 2025.

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He particularly thanked Erdogan, with whom he has shared a close friendship since his first term in office, and called him a "fantastic guy" and a "tough cookie".

"Don't mess around with him," Trump joked, as the other leaders around him laughed.

This is the second year in a row that Trump has held such a meeting, though last year's gathering on the sidelines of the UNGA included some of the world's most populous Muslim nations, Pakistan and Indonesia, and largely focused on enacting a ceasefire in Gaza.

That ceasefire went into effect some three weeks later, but Israel has continued to carry out several air strikes on the enclave every week.

This year, Iran is in sharp focus, as these regional leaders deal with the literal blows from Iran's retaliatory actions against US interests.

"Operation Epic Fury crippled Iran's Navy... Eliminated its air force. They have no planes. Hit over 90 percent of its weapons factories and destroyed 450 ballistic missile storage facilities and 800 drone storage facilities," Trump said of the US-Israeli war that began on 28 February.

"We may have to blow up another one, Pickaxe Mountain," he warned. "We're not seeing a lot of activity there, but if we do, we'll blow it up immediately."

The leaders in the room maintained a stoic look. They did not address the reporters who were ushered out after Trump's remarks.

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UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the 81st UN General Assembly by stating that the shift toward a multipolar world is irreversible and urging for an end to fighting in the Middle East. While the article headline characterizes the conflict in Gaza as a "genocide," the provided text notes only that Guterres warned that existing ceasefires are insufficient and that civilian casualties continue, without independently verifying the specific legal characterization of the events.

According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), U.S. forces recently employed unmanned maritime systems to strike a naval facility in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in what officials described as the first combat use of sea drones. This action followed an earlier operation in June where an unmanned Navy vessel assisted in recovering crew members from a downed U.

S. Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

During his UN General Assembly address, President Trump stated he faced a "big decision" regarding whether to pursue a diplomatic agreement or "annihilate the Islamic Republic," asserting that Iran possesses missiles capable of striking Europe. These remarks came amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has reportedly disrupted global oil markets and involved Iranian blockading of the Strait of Hormuz, though the specific military capabilities claimed have not been independently verified in the summary.