9.23 | Washington Wednesday: Trump at U.N.

Lindsay Mast (0:05)

Good morning. President Trump tells an American resurgence as he prepares to welcome the Chinese president.

Nick Eicher (0:11)

A high stakes state visit. Plus, whether campaign money still buys what it used to.

Washington Wednesday with Hunter Baker coming up.

Also today, World Tour, Nepal still recovering from devastating floods. And later, an Illinois farmer builds a business on the lowly worm.

Jerry Callison (0:29)

They take something that is poisonous to us, break it down to something that is actually good for us.

Nick Eicher (0:36)

And World commentator Janie B. Cheaney on classic hymns in dark times.

Lindsay Mast (0:46)

It's Wednesday, September 23rd. This is The World and Everything In It from listener-supported World Radio. I'm Wendy Mast.

Nick Eicher (0:53)

And I'm Nick Eicher. Good morning.

Lindsay Mast (0:57)

Up next, Kent Covington with today's news.

Kent Covington (1:01)

At UN headquarters in New York Tuesday, President Trump sat shoulder-to-shoulder at a table with leaders from Denmark and Greenland. They drew a round of applause from a small gathering as they each held up their signed copy of a new agreement to boost the US military footprint in Greenland. The deal updates a 1951 defense agreement, and President Trump says it gives the US more power to defend both America and Europe.

Donald Trump (1:26)

We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations. We will be building two very major military bases.

Kent Covington (1:39)

The agreement lets American forces expand the Petufik space base in the northwest and set up new defense areas in the south and east. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

Mette Frederiksen (1:50)

Mr. President, you have been very clear. You don't want adversaries to come too close.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy (1:58)

I fully agree.

Harrison Waters (2:00)

And with this deal, they are not.

Kent Covington (2:03)

The text also recognizes Danish sovereignty and the right of Greenlanders to decide their own future. Greenland's Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen.

Jens Frederik Nielsen (2:11)

It is about taking shared responsibility for a secure America, a secure Greenland, with mutual respect and a peaceful Arctic. This is a win-win-win agreement.

Kent Covington (2:25)

Lawmakers in Denmark and Greenland must still approve the deal before it takes effect. And just before signing that agreement, Trump spoke to a gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, declaring that America, in its 250th year, is stronger than ever.

Donald Trump (2:40)

Our economy is the envy of the world. Our military is the most powerful on earth.

Our technology is second to none.

Kent Covington (2:49)

Trump brushed aside safety concerns over artificial intelligence and rejected what he called a globalist scheme to control AI.

Donald Trump (2:57)

From this point forward, all of the United States' documents, and hopefully the world's, will be changed to, use the much more accurate term, super intelligence.

Kent Covington (3:07)

On Iran, he said the regime had been the bully of the Middle East, but after US military action, it is the bully no more. And he said what comes next in the war is still undecided.

Donald Trump (3:18)

Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn't make sense for them not to.

Kent Covington (3:34)

Trump said Iran has been trying to leverage the US election to apply political pressure. Most of Iran's delegation walked out to ring his speech. But afterward, US diplomats sat down with Iranian officials for three hours. Trump called that a very good meeting and said they planned to meet again. Iran's president, Masoud Bojashkian, will speak to the assembly today.

President Trump also met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy Tuesday, and he said he is optimistic that an end to the Russia-Ukraine war could be in sight.

Donald Trump (4:04)

Well, I think they're going to make a deal, and I don't want to say what the deal is. We talk about it a lot, including with President Putin. And I think something is going to happen.

Kent Covington (4:13)

He also said he's talking with Zelenskyy about the possibility of making defensive patriot missile interceptors in Ukraine. But at the same time, Trump said it is now time to stop targeting energy facilities, criticizing Kyiv's recent strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Zelenskyy, for his part, said he is willing to stop those strikes if Russia will do the same in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy (4:34)

We are ready for any kind of format of energy ceasefire. So if we don't attack energy, so all the energy, everything. So this is our proposition.

We are very thankful to American side. They will share it with Russians. I don't know.