On September 22, 2026, US president Donald Trump welcomed the world to the opening of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, a “welcome” peppered with boasts of US prowess and threats of Armageddon for any who dare cross Washington. Trump reiterated his intent to bring the Cuban people to heel, bragged about the US conquest of Venezuela, and boasted of being a “peacemaker” in Gaza. But what made it an especially obscene performance were his threats of genocide against Iran. "Do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” The only thing more stunning than this grotesque performance was the deafening silence of his audience as only the Cuban and Iranian delegations walked out.