How Words Build Worlds: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Trump’s 2025 UN Speech

Abstract

This paper employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine a speech delivered by the U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in 2025. CDA investigates the nexus between language, power, and ideology, positing that discourse is not merely reflective but constitutive of social reality. This analysis deconstructs the linguistic strategies, including lexical choices, metaphorical framing, narrative structures, and stylistic deviations, to reveal how the speech constructs a Manichean worldview. This worldview posits a strong, resurgent America (“us”) against a backdrop of weak international institutions, hostile enemies, and misguided allies (“them”). The paper argues that the speech functions as a performative act of nationalist sovereignty, designed to delegitimize multilateralism, securitize immigration, and frame climate action as a destructive hoax, thereby advocating for a unilateralist approach to global governance.