UNITED NATIONS − President Donald Trump went scorched earth in his speech to the 80th United Nations General Assembly, criticizing everything from the UN's faulty escalators to a lack of action by member nations to solve global wars.

Meanwhile, he touted what he described as his own record of bringing an end to seven wars and stopping the influx of undocumented immigrants into the U.S. − while railing against what he called the “globalist immigration agenda.”

He also broke news - about running into Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the way to his speech and making an impromptu decision to meet up next week after months of rancor between the two.

Brazilian 'chemistry'

“I was walking in and the leader of Brazil was walking out. I saw him, he saw me," Trump said during his Sept. 23 speech. "We actually agreed that we would meet next week."

Relations between Brazil and the U.S. have been strained, with Trump repeatedly demanding that Brazil halt the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro on charges of attempting a coup in 2022. Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, was convicted earlier this month.

Brazil also has been on the receiving end of a punishing 50% U.S. reciprocal tariff.

But Trump's chance “39 seconds,” as he described it, with the Brazilian president, popularly known as Lula, may have changed things.

“We had excellent chemistry,” said Trump. “It’s a good sign.”

Here are more moments from Trump's UN visit:

‘A bad escalator,' a 'bad teleprompter’ and 'empty words'

Things got off to a rocky start when the president and first lady Melania Trump got on a U.N. escalator.

It stopped on the way up—"right in the middle,” said Trump.

“If the first lady wasn't in great shape, she would've fallen. But she's in great shape. We're both in good shape,” he said.

As he stood at the podium, the teleprompter stopped working.

“These are the two things I got from the United Nations,” said Trump. “A bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. Thank you very much.”

Before long, the teleprompter was back on, and Trump launched into the United Nation’s squandered potential.

“I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries and never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal,” Trump said, adding that he didn’t think too much of it at the time because I was “too busy working to save millions of lives.”

Trump said the United Nations wasn't part of the negotiations, though there is no indication that he ever sought out the international body.

“What is the purpose of the United Nations? The UN has such tremendous potential but it's not even coming close to living up to that potential,” he said. “All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It's empty words and empty words don't solve wars.”

Right after the speech, however, he struck a conciliatory tone in a meeting with the UN Secretary General António Guterres, saying the U.S. was "behind the United Nations 100%."

Guterres told Trump that the US was central in forming the UN and applauded Trump's efforts to obtain ceasefires and make peace agreements. He said he wanted to reassure Trump that the UN and its leaders are "entirely at your disposal," to achieve a "just peace" in the world.

Nobel Peace Prize and ending 'unglorious' wars

Trump followed up his criticism of the UN with a shout-out to himself.

Along with the seven wars he says he ended − others disagree − Trump mentioned the Abraham Accords, a series of U.S.-brokered agreements that established diplomatic normalization between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority states in 2020. He said the US never received credit for it.

“Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each one of these achievements, but for me, the real prize will be the sons and daughters who live to grow up with their mothers and fathers because millions of people are no longer being killed in endless and unglorious wars,” said Trump.

Leaders of countries including Pakistan, Israel, Cambodia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have already nominated Trump for the coveted prize.

Walking on terrazzo

Ever the real estate developer, Trump brought up an old grievance at not getting a contract to refurbish the UN complex in New York.

“Many years ago, a very successful real estate developer in New York, known as Donald J. Trump bid on the renovation and rebuilding of this very United Nations complex,” said Trump.

Trump said his bid included marble floors, while other developers offered terrazzo, a composite material with marble and granite chips.

He said he wanted to give them the best of everything.

“You're going to have mahogany walls. They are going to give you plastic,” he said.

Alas, they went in another direction.

Trump said the project ultimately ran into massive cost overruns and delivered “an inferior product.”

The UN secretariat building "did not even get the marble floors that I promised them,” he told the audience. “You’re walking to terrazzo. Do you notice that? As far as I'm concerned, frankly, looking at the building and getting stuck on the escalator, they still haven't finished the job.”

Dinner in Washington, DC

Between admonishing leaders of member countries for not doing enough, Trump invited them to dinner in the nation’s capital to check out the city’s safe streets.

He said Washington D.C, is now “totally safe” thanks to the National Guards troops he deployed there amid great controversy.

“Washington DC is now a totally safe city again and I welcome you to come,” Trump told the delegates. “In fact, we’ll have dinner together at a local restaurant.”

"In fact, we’ll walk,” Trump added. “We don’t have to go by armor-plated vehicle. We’ll walk right over there from the White House.”

Earlier this month, Trump himself dined out at Joe’s Seafood, a few blocks from the White House, with Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet secretaries.

Contributing: Francesca Chambers

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump at UN: A bad escalator, a bad teleprompter and a chance 39-second meeting

Reporting by Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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