US And Iran Talk At UNGA, Poll Shows Dems Lead Midterm, White House Media Ban Lawsuit

Leila Fadel (0:02)

Iranian officials at the United Nations watched President Trump threaten to annihilate their country.

Steve Inskeep (0:07)

Then the president revealed US officials spent three hours talking with Iranians. Is diplomacy back on the table?

Leila Fadel (0:14)

I'm Leila Fadel, that's Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. The latest NPR survey gives Democrats the lead in the race for Congress. A lot of voters say their choice is a vote against Trump. How much is the president shaping the midterms?

Steve Inskeep (0:31)

Also three news outlets the president banned from the White House have their day in court today. CNN, Ms Now and Politico accused the president of punishing them for their coverage. The president affirmed in writing that he is doing exactly that. The question is whether he broke the law.

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Leila Fadel (0:57)

Iran's president takes the podium at the United Nations today, a day after President Trump spoke of annihilating Iran.

Steve Inskeep (1:04)

Trump was in New York addressing the UN. General Assembly and he spoke of options for Iran ranging from total destruction to a peace deal after the US election. He also finished the speech appealing for international cooperation.

Leila Fadel (1:17)

NPR White House correspondent, Deepa Shivaram joins us to discuss. Hi, Deepa.

Deepa Shivaram (1:21)

Hey, good morning.

Leila Fadel (1:22)

Good morning. First, just catch us up on what Trump said in his speech in New York.

Deepa Shivaram (1:26)

Yeah, I will say it was a pretty brief speech overall as far as Trump's speeches go. He talked about US actions in Venezuela and Iran and essentially used both as examples of America's military might. At one point, he mused on whether he should annihilate Iran, as you all mentioned, and keep in mind there were leaders from Iran in the audience. He talked about how the US has benefited from access to Venezuela's oil supply after a military intervention there that led to the capture of the country's leader, Nicolas Maduro. He even used the phrase, quote, to the victor belong the spoils, referring to US control of Venezuela's oil, though that goes pretty directly against US foreign policy tradition to not explicitly connect military intervention with the acquisition of resources. Overall, it was a speech that highlighted how Trump sees his own role as a world leader. He described himself as someone who takes action when other countries don't, and someone who isn't afraid to use force to protect America's interests. In the past, Trump has been really critical of the United Nations as a body and hasn't shied away from criticizing it, but this year he mostly stuck to his remarks, though he did accuse the UN of, quote, imposing the far left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected. And he was also critical of the ICC, the International Criminal Court.

Leila Fadel (2:41)

Now, he also had back-to-back meetings with world leaders. How did those interactions play out?

Deepa Shivaram (2:46)

Yeah, it was a packed day yesterday. Trump met with leaders from Britain, Japan, Venezuela, and the Gulf nations. He signed a deal with Greenland and Denmark to put more US bases in Greenland. And that was a win for Trump, who's been calling for the US to, quote, take Greenland since he returned to the White House last year. This deal doesn't give the US any ownership of the island, of course, but it does expand US presence, which Trump wanted. He also met with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to speak about trying to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. But I will say the biggest news out of that meeting actually had to do with Iran. While taking questions, Trump revealed that a US delegation had been meeting with Iranians for three hours yesterday. It's not clear how much progress was made during those talks, but it does mark a significant shift back to diplomacy after talks with Iran broke down over the summer over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump, of course, has been under enormous pressure to find a way to end this conflict with Iran. He says the election is not on his mind as he weighs what to do about this war that he and Israel started, but voters at home are increasingly unhappy.

Leila Fadel (3:49)

Yeah, I mean, the meetings yesterday are coming as Trump is facing a lot of uphill battles on domestic issues, poor approval ratings, legal battles, a fight with the press corps.

Deepa Shivaram (3:58)

Yeah, not to mention a major summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who's arriving in Washington tonight. But yeah, on the domestic front, several polls show Trump is doing even worse than before. His approval ratings have slid down. Americans are souring on Trump's stance on foreign policy. They're not happy with this war, and they don't think Trump is doing enough to end it. And you're right, there's other battles too. Trump this week banned three news outlets from covering the White House. Now the administration is facing legal action from those outlets. A judge is expected to weigh in today on that lawsuit. Trump was asked about this in New York yesterday, and he said he expects the judge to rule against him.