US President Donald Trump’s hour-long tirade at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has once again thrust his unfiltered style into the global spotlight, shattering the body’s unofficial 15-minute speech limit and reigniting debates on oratory endurance.
In his first address of the second term, Trump clocked nearly 60 minutes, railing against illegal migration, America’s economic resurgence, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and what he dubbed the “great hoax” of climate change. He slammed Europe, India, and China for fuelling the Ukraine crisis by buying Russian oil and gas, warning of hefty US tariffs if Moscow spurns peace talks.
Dismissing carbon footprints as “fake”, Trump accused the UN of funding border invasions – even claiming it hands cash cards to migrants at America’s southern frontier. “The UN’s job is to stop wars, not start or finance them,” he thundered.
Yet, Trump’s marathon fell short of UN history’s epics. The record remains Fidel Castro’s 1960 epic – a whopping 269 minutes (over four hours) that redefined filibustering. Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, in 2009, stretched his slot to 90-100 minutes, waving the UN Charter like a prop while decrying world powers. Though leaders are urged to cap at 15 minutes, big nations often overrun, turning the podium into a stage for spectacle.
Trump’s soliloquy underscored a truth as delegates shuffled and the hall buzzed: at the UN, time limits are more a suggestion than a scripture. Will his barbs spark action, or just more echoes?