There is a lot to be lulled to the annual UN General Assembly. The UN plenum in New York is used to lengthy and lengthy speeches, despite the officially recommended speaking time of a quarter of an hour.
But Donald Trump's surprisingly apathetic Uno appearance is another category in its own right, even in the obligatory monotony of this marble hall: For 36 minutes, the US President reads his speech from the teleprompter - expressionless, callous, listless. His eyes are getting narrower and his words ever quieter, as if he hears them for the first time.
Sure, for many, this is almost a relief, after Trump's earlier, turbulent guest appearances on the East River: in 2017 he was disturbed by his "America First" rhetoric, and in 2018 he earned derisive laughter. This time, however, he mentally almost absent - despite his favorite topics: patriotism, nationalism, egoism.
Trump's UN speech in the video: "The future belongs to the patriots"
SAUL LOEB / AFP
Not only does he show his disdain for the UN: one notices that he "wants to leave here as fast as possible", a commentator mocks later. But above all, reveals that his thoughts are in truth quite elsewhere - in the hourly growing danger of impeachment in the escalating Ukraine scandal.
This affair continues Trump to the foyer of the UN, where he typically arrives late, 45 minutes after the Assembly has long begun without him. Dozens of reporters shout questions to him, and not a single one revolves around the United Nations.
First outraged, then apathetic
Did he really urge the new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj - who is also in New York that day - to discredit his rival Joe Biden? Did he use nearly $ 400 million in US military aid as a lever? Trump denies outraged, agitated and crimson head, distinguishes himself with known hype as the victim of a conspiracy, a "witch hunt" as in the case of the Russian affair: "This has never happened to a president."
Shortly thereafter, a very different, lethargic Trump joins the UN panel. Right at the beginning he falls into the typical Nörgel-Singsang, which he always strives when he recites words that others have written for him, but who do not care about him.
And right from the beginning this speech sounds nationalistic, and finally, it comes from the pen of its ultraconservative ghostwriter Stephen Miller: "The future does not belong to the globalists, it belongs to the patriots," proclaims Trump - a biting irony in this hall, in more than 100 Heads of State and Government have gathered so as not to diverge, but to move closer together, at least for a few days here.
But even this affront goes under in the auditorium, like the rest of the speech. Trump prays down his classic talking points, riddled with exaggerations and untruths: he railes against China, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, praising his trade war, demonizing "illegal mass migration". Some in the hall nod.
HAYOUNG JEON / EPA-EFE / REX
Mentally almost absent: Trump on Monday at the UN climate summit
It is also worth noting, however, how seamlessly Trump's nationalism still fits in with the current trend: All the opening speeches of the UN general debate sound similar.
Trump at the "Day of the Dictators"
This is a whim of appointments, determined by lot, but also symbolizing the rise of the world's autocrats - from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They all speak in a block, as it were: "Day of the dictators at the UN", the magazine "Politico" - "and Trump in the middle of it" - concludes.
"Increasing authoritarianism is one of the most serious challenges for those who defend human rights," warns Kenneth Roth, head of Human Rights Watch. "It is imperative that the heads of state who open the UN General Assembly address it."
But Trump does not lose a word about human rights. After all, he loves the company of "strong" rulers. He is said to have described el-Sisi as "my favorite dictator," and at her tête-à-tête in New York called him "my friend" and "a true leader" who achieved "absolutely fantastic things."
However, Trump himself is less and less blatantly demonstrating his democratic habits, when he speaks freely and does not read from the paper. So he insults the reporters who oppress him as "demonically corrupt" and barks that the Democrat Joe Biden deserves the "electric chair".
But the current Ukraine scandal - in which Trump's autocratic thinking particularly reveals - can not be talked out, either with a phlegmatic UN speech or with tirades on journalists. While the heads of state and delegates meet for solemn lunches at the invitation of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, US news channels have only one topic - a potential impeachment case against the US president.