Is the world turning its back on Trump's America?

James Rubin (0:02)

This is a Global Production.

Christiane Amanpour (0:05)

We've never really seen this before. Many countries, allies, coming to the United Nations in New York, President Trump's hometown, to talk about how they're going to do it without him. The fact is that big blocks of powerful countries are trying to find a way to have some kind of world order, not just work around Trump, but some kind of world order to guide the world through some of the greatest challenges we're facing right now.

James Rubin (0:29)

President Trump clearly is a unilateralist. He believes in the strength of the United States and where it's odd and where it's been hard for countries to figure out, he seems to be more comfortable with the adversaries.

Christiane Amanpour (0:47)

Hello, everyone, and here is the latest episode of The Ex Files with me, Christiane Amanpour, in New York this week for the UN General Assembly.

James Rubin (0:55)

And Jamie Rubin here in New York City as well.

Christiane Amanpour (0:58)

Yeah, and unfortunately, we can't be in the same studio because of all sorts of scheduling logistics and getting back and forth from the east side to the west side and the annual UN traffic snarl. It is honestly an annual nightmare. Nonetheless, that is what we're going to be talking about this week. We're going to talk about when all these world leaders, President Trump and all the leaders come to the UN to speak to the world about the aspirations for the future, what are they going to be talking about? And then we're also going to be talking about President Trump's increased and somewhat strange attack on the American press, banning key members, including CNN, from the White House. We'll discuss all of that. First, Jamie, because we've done these, you know, undercoverages from all sorts of angles. You were there often with Madeleine Albright. I was there all the time with CNN, trying to get all the best interviews. It seems that nations are coming to this UN General Assembly to essentially present President Trump and their own constituents how they are working around him. After spending nearly two years of this administration, being tariffed, being isolated, being distanced, being aggressed, some of them will say, having America interfere in their own sovereignty, their own domestic politics, not just foreign affairs.

Many of them are banding together to form different alliances and to try to have work around so that they can have trade and other reasonable conversations with other like-minded nations. So that seems to be a big problem, Jamie. We've never really seen this before. Many countries, allies, coming to the United Nations in New York, President Trump's hometown, to talk about how they're going to do it without him.

James Rubin (2:44)

You're right. It's one of the weirder UN General Assemblies for that very, very reason.

Obviously, President Trump has made a decision, the Trump administration made a clear decision to work more closely with countries like Russia and China than previously, and to be more confrontational with the allies, the friends, the many, many countries that are part of either the NATO alliance, the Asian alliances, or part of our general support system in the world, which is unfortunate because that support system is what makes America so strong, in my opinion, and alienating those supporters doesn't help America get stronger. But that's an analytical judgment of mine that the Trump administration obviously doesn't agree with. And so the result is that countries are not coming here the way they used to, waiting to see what the United States will say, whether it will be willing to cooperate on this issue, or willing to cooperate on that issue, or what its policies are going to be on Africa, or what its policies are going to be on the latest crises, because they know all that. Instead, they're really here in a different way, which is to work using the UN's centrality as a location where all these leaders meet, to talk to each other and worry a little bit less about making the United States happy this time. Because generally, what would happen would be a US president would come, would give his speech, then he'd meet with seven or eight different leaders. At least this was true during the Clinton administration, when America was at its ascendancy, and countries would try to have a good meeting with the United States, and that would be the mark of success.

Christiane Amanpour (4:25)

How did, when you were advising Madeleine Albright for four years of the Clinton administration, she was the US ambassador to the UN. How do foreign countries coming here prepare, and how does the host country, the United States, prepare for these meetings? Because it can't just be just throwing spaghetti at a wall and figuring out where it's going to slop down.