Seven years later, the circumstances have changed in dramatic ways. In 2018, foreign officials laughed at Trump because they thought he was kidding. In 2025, they did not laugh, because they know he isn’t. NBC News reported:

President Donald Trump delivered a critical address to the United Nations General Assembly at a moment of heightened strain with U.S. allies over Palestinian statehood, trade and other flash points as his administration retreats from the global body. In remarks that called for United Nations reforms, Trump charged the institution with failing to act to solve global conflicts and immigration woes and derided its ‘empty words’ that ‘don’t solve war.’

,.....Over the course of his remarks, he told strange lies about foreign investments in the U.S. He generated murmurs in the hall by declaring, “Our message is very simple. If you come illegally into the United States, you’re going to jail or you’re going back to where you came from — or perhaps even further than that. You know what that means.”

He pretended that he’s ended seven wars, while pointing to approval ratings that exist only in his mind. He renewed his pathetic lobbying for a Nobel Peace Prize, falsely claiming that “everyone” wants him to get one. He took pointless shots at ostensible U.S. allies in NATO and at the United Nations itself. He told unnamed officials that their countries are “going to hell.” He bragged about campaign swag sales. He attacked clean, renewable energy, while insisting that climate science is an elaborate “con job” and a “hoax” concocted by nefarious people with “evil intentions.”.....

Perhaps most importantly, Trump told one of his favorite lies, bragging that international respect for the U.S. has reached all-time highs now that he’s back in power.

Trump: On the world stage, America is respected again like it has never been respected before

— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2025-09-23T14:30:24.763078616Z

.....She wasn't the only one who noticed. Ishaan Tharoor, a global affairs columnist for The Washington Post, wrote online after the speech, “I’ve reported on every Trump UNGA speech. This is easily the craziest one.”

Tharoor soon after highlighted a message he’d received from a senior foreign diplomat.

Link to tweet

In the event that the diplomat sees this, the answer is, yes, some Americans are keenly aware of the humiliation.

After the remarks, Trump wrote online, “I believe the speech was very well received.” He did not say by whom.