Trump, Nihilism, and the UN Stage: A Confession of Powerlessness?
When Donald Trump took the podium at the United Nations General Assembly, he delivered more than bluster — he offered a kind of nihilistic spectacle. That’s the verdict of Will Gottsegen, who in The Atlantic Daily describes a speech that “oscillated between bombast and blithe nihilism.” The Atlantic In a moment when the world is braced by crises of climate, war, inflation, and systemic instability, Trump’s address abandoned the usual modes of diplomatic appeals, norms of multilateralism, and the basic assumption that collective action still matters.
What does it mean to speak publicly “beyond hope,” as a world burns? Let’s pick through the rhetorical anatomy of that message, the dangers it poses, and what it might signal about how we govern—or fail to govern—at the brink.
1. The Rhetoric of Abandonment
Gottsegen highlights several features of Trump’s address that betray its deeper posture:
Catastrophe everywhere, America alone. Trump painted a world “going to hell” because of “the failed experiment of open borders,” juxtaposed against an America in its “golden age.” The Atlantic That contrast is not just boastful — it is a rhetorical repudiation of shared fate. If everything else is doomed, the only recourse is isolation or self-salvation.
Disconnection from fact, retreat from coherence. The speech was riddled with asides (teleprompter failures, escalator jokes), false claims (credit for ending wars), and conspiratorial asides (climate change as a “con job,” fears of Sharia in London). The Atlantic These elements weaken the speech’s claim to seriousness, but also serve a tactic: to shrink the space of serious pushback, to drown in noise.
Delegitimizing institutions. He asked, “What is the purpose of the United Nations?” not in a spirit of reform, but as a swipe at the institution itself. The Atlantic The gesture: global institutions are hollow, broken, worth little attention. Don’t rely on them; rely on us (or don’t rely at all).
Emotional resignation. Gottsegen’s phrasing — that Trump “throws up his hands” — captures the emotional core: a president signaling that the world is beyond repair and that most of it must fend for itself. The Atlantic
In short, it is not a speech of hope, not even a speech of fear, but a speech of giving up.
2. The Dangers of Political Nihilism
Why should we care when a major world leader adopts a posture of nihilism?
(a) Self-fulfilling despair
When a leader publicly withdraws into a posture of “it’s all falling apart anyway,” it normalizes passivity. If the rhetoric is that the system is irredeemably broken, then every failure simply confirms the narrative. Ambitious reforms, collective action, or international problem-solving become not worthy, but quixotic.
(b) Undermining multilateralism
The United Nations is, admittedly, a flawed institution. But its value lies in providing forums and norms for cooperation. When a global power treats it as an irrelevancy, or worse, an adversary, it further corrodes the willingness of states to engage. Over time, the very scaffolding of global governance erodes — climate treaties, sanctions regimes, aid programs, peacekeeping efforts.
(c) Legitimacy gap and domestic impact
A leader who revels in nihilism invites domestic cynicism. If the highest office expresses no shared purpose, why should citizens believe in collective institutions — from public health to environmental policy to infrastructure — or support government action? In that void, authoritarianism or demagogic shortcuts find fertile ground.
(d) Misread threats
Nihilism often treats all threats as equivalent — “everything is chaos.” That flattens distinctions: is Russia more dangerous than transnational climate risk? Is famine worse than pandemics? The urgency of targeted responses is lost if all we see is unending doom. Worse, threats that demand coordinated responses fall by the wayside.
3. Reading the UN Address as a Signal
Gottsegen suggests that this address is not just theater — it is emblematic of Trump’s foreign policy posture. The Atlantic A few implications:
America First turned America Alone. The logic of “America First” is often framed in terms of prioritizing domestic interest. But when that mode slides into rejection of global responsibility, the consequence is abandonment. The UN address shows a willingness to disclaim global leadership, even coordination.
Volatile swings as abdication. To justify the incoherence — he first chastises Ukraine’s Zelensky, then later blames Russia; he proclaims ending wars, then claims to fight new ones — is less inconsistency than retreat from standards. When there is no coherent foreign policy, reversal becomes the default. The Atlantic
Delegation to chaos. When the message is “you’re on your own,” conflicts, disasters, and upheavals become externalities to be endured, not shaped. Trump’s speech invites the world to scramble as best it can — America may intervene, but on its own terms.
4. What’s Missing—and What Redress Might Look Like
To counter nihilism, something more is required than reproach.
(i) Narrative of agency
When leaders speak, they offer possibility, not just diagnosis. The argument for cooperation, for rebuilding institutions, for activism, must reassert itself. The idea that a better future — or at least a tolerable one — is possible, is a political foundation.
(ii) Institutional re-investments
If the UN and multilateral bodies are imperfect, that is reason to repair, not abandon. Repair, reform, reinvest. Revise decision rules, increase accountability, enhance enforcement. A world of real commitments — not symbolic ones — can resist the drift toward “nothing matters.”
(iii) Local to global bridges
Global crises (climate, pandemics, migration) play out locally. Empowering subnational, civil society, and transnational networks gives resilience even when national postures are brittle. If national governments withdraw, other layers must hold.
(iv) Guardrails on nihilism
In democratic order, political discourse cannot collapse entirely. Norms of truth, accountability, institutional continuity must resist despair. Courts, legislatures, civil society — these are counterweights to the pull of “nothing matters.”
5. Conclusion: The Stakes of Disbelief
Gottsegen’s framing is apt: this was not a mere rhetorical slip, but a confession of political despair. The Atlantic In a moment when the world demands urgency, a speech that signals resignation is worse than helplessness — it is a mandate to retreat.
We must take seriously what it means when a global leader abandons not only solutions, but the very idea of shared agency. The question now is: who will speak differently in that hall, and across the world, so that despair does not become default?
Meanwhile,
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