Former US President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that the United States has effectively taken on the role of the United Nations in resolving global conflicts, asserting that the international body has failed to play a meaningful role in maintaining peace. His remarks came as he announced that hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia would soon come to an end following recent developments.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he was pleased to announce that the fighting between Thailand and Cambodia would “stop momentarily” and that both countries would return to peaceful coexistence in line with an earlier agreement. He credited the outcome to swift diplomatic action and praised the leaders of both nations for reaching what he described as a “rapid and very fair conclusion.”
Trump went on to congratulate the leadership of both countries, saying their actions were decisive and reflected how conflicts should ideally be resolved. He added that the United States was proud to have played a role in helping bring the fighting to an end. At the same time, he used the moment to criticise the United Nations, accusing it of being ineffective and largely absent in resolving global disputes.
Claiming a major foreign policy achievement, Trump said that during the first eight months of his second term, he had helped bring an end to eight separate conflicts. He remarked that, in effect, the United States had become the “real United Nations,” while the actual UN had provided little to no assistance in resolving major global crises. He also included the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine in his criticism, calling the UN’s role in that conflict ineffective.
Trump further stated that the United Nations must take a more active and serious role in maintaining world peace, arguing that its current approach had failed to prevent or resolve major conflicts. He reiterated that many of the peace efforts attributed to international diplomacy were, in his view, actually driven by US intervention.
His comments came ahead of a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Palm Beach residence in Florida, where discussions are expected to focus on a possible peace framework to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump has consistently criticised the United Nations in recent months. During his address to world leaders at the UN General Assembly earlier this year, he accused the organisation of failing in its core mission. He said it was unfortunate that he had to intervene in conflicts that, in his view, should have been resolved by the UN, adding that in most cases the organisation had not even attempted to act.
Among the conflicts Trump claimed credit for resolving were disputes between India and Pakistan, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and most recently, Thailand and Cambodia.
Fighting between Thailand and Cambodia had resumed on December 7, with the United Nations noting that strikes were increasingly taking place deeper inside each other’s territory rather than remaining confined to border areas. The situation had raised international concern over a potential escalation.
The United States welcomed Saturday’s announcement by both countries that they had agreed to a ceasefire following a meeting of the General Border Committee. Washington urged both sides to immediately honour the agreement and fully implement the terms of the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords, expressing hope that the truce would lead to lasting stability in the region.
