WASHINGTON, D.C. (Erie News Now) – President Trump took the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) today, delivering a speech that criticized the U.N. and also touched on some of the globe’s most pressing crises. 

“Not only is the U.N. not solving the problems it should, too often, it's actually creating new problems for us to solve,” Trump said. 

In New York City on Tuesday, President Donald Trump did not hold back criticism for the United Nations on topics including wars, green policy and immigration. 

"It's time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now. I can tell you, I'm really good at this stuff, your countries are going to hell,” Trump said. 

But despite that criticism, Trump said the U.S. is “behind the U.N. 100%.” 

“I disagree with it sometimes, but I am still behind it because I think that the potential for peace with this institution is so great,” Trump said. 

Peace is perhaps the biggest topic during this year’s General Assembly, but frustration with aggressors who stand in the way was clear. 

“And it looks like it's not going to end for a long time,” Trump said during a bilateral meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Frustration is especially high in the wake of Russian incursions into NATO airspace. 

"Do you think that NATO's countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?” a reporter asked Trump at UNGA. 

“Yes, I do,” he replied. 

With the recent escalation, some foreign policy experts say NATO countries were hoping for more from the president’s speech. 

“One glaring omission in the Trump speech was to call out Russia for the interference in NATO's airspace that has repeatedly taken place,” said Liana Fix, senior fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations. “They want to hear that he is committed to NATO's defense and they want to hear him say that Russia should back off from these unprecedented provocations.” 

The president also criticized European countries for leaning on Russia as an energy source. 

"Europe has to step it up. They can't be doing what they're doing. They're buying oil and gas from Russia while they're fighting Russia,” Trump said. 

“He threatened that he will pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine, but he added a key precondition: First, you have to cut off Russia from energy supplies and you have to sanction or put tariffs on the most important buyers of Russian energy: China and India,” Fix explained. “He does have a point when he says it's incredible that NATO leaders — who are actually building up NATO to defend its members against Russia — still send money over to Russia for fossil fuels.” 

Tuesday morning, the European Union announced plans to eliminate all purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas by 2026 — a year earlier than originally planned. 

In the Middle East, momentum is building among member states for Palestinian statehood. More than 150 countries — about 80% of U.N. member states, including France, Canada and the U.K. — now formally recognize it. 

Their decision follows a U.N. inquiry that concluded, “Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have committed and are continuing to commit genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” 

“Some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” Trump said. “Instead of giving in to Hamas's ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: release the hostages, now.” 

The president’s remarks come as Israel presses forward with a massive ground operation into Gaza City. The Israeli military claims to have eliminated 30 terrorists and dozens of targets, but the Palestinian Ministry of Health claims at least 90 people were killed in the weekend attacks. 

“The president has said over and over again he wants the war in Gaza to come to an end,” said Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle East & Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “He hasn't, though, prioritized whether he wants that to come to an end either through negotiations or through military action. He is kind of ping pong between the two.” 

On the sidelines, Trump held private meetings with world leaders, from NATO allies to Middle East counterparts — an attempt to underscore American influence even as experts warn it’s fading. 

“We are at the end of one order, one global order. We don't know what the new one is going to look like,” Cook said. “The president really doesn't have a commitment to multilateral fora or institutions. What's going to happen is that countries are going to seek other alliances, other partnerships, and that is going to increasingly, over a period of time, in a dialectical way, shape the new global order.”