FILE PHOTO: The CNN booth at the White House after US President Donald Trump announced he would ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

President Donald Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met Tuesday (September 22, 2026), an unexpected engagement that came even as he threatened in his address to the UN General Assembly that he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal isn’t reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.

Mr. Trump told reporters that his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders, but he offered few details about how the discussions transpired or the substance of the exchange.

“It was a very good meeting,” Mr. Trump said. The President later added that the Iranian officials were “not at the highest level, but it’s something.”

The engagement comes after months of U.S.-Iran communications languishing following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire that was brokered in June.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Doha in early July for indirect talks.

Earlier Tuesday (September 22, 2026), Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Mr. Trump is open to meeting with Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, while he’s in New York for the General Assembly.

“This is a President that will meet with anybody for the most part, because he believes that engaging with people is important if you’re going to solve problems,” Mr. Rubio said on NBC‘s “Today” show. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to end up agreeing with them, but it’s important.”

Mr. Trump also met on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) with leaders and senior officials from Gulf Cooperation Council nations – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – as well as Jordan to discuss the way ahead with the war in Iran.

In his address to the General Assembly, Mr. Trump made the case that he’s shown fortitude while other leaders have equivocated as he defended his decision to start a war with Iran.

But Mr. Trump also suggested that he could be at a crossroads in the conflict, even as he called on the Islamic Republic to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table to find a settlement to end the conflict.

“I have a big decision to make,” Mr. Trump said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

The President’s comments came in his wide-ranging address to the international body in which he also celebrated this year’s U.S. military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, a new agreement to expand the U.S. military presence in Greenland, and pushed back against calls for greater regulation of the artificial intelligence industry.

But at the heart of the address was a fulsome defence of the war and pushback on the notion that Iran has shown a measure of resilience.

“The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate,” Mr. Trump said.

Most of Iran’s delegation walked out of the chamber as Mr. Trump railed against the Islamic Republic.

After his speech, Mr. Trump gathered with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the General Assembly to sign a new security agreement.

The deal, announced last week, came together after Mr. Trump repeatedly threatened to “take over” Greenland, a territory of NATO-ally Denmark, by military force if necessary.

Mr. Trump said Tuesday (September 22, 2026) the U.S. will immediately begin the process of developing a larger military presence in Greenland including “building two very major military bases”.

Under the deal, Greenland remains Denmark’s territory.

Mr. Trump also held talks with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He’s expected to hold a more informal meeting on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) evening with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, according to the White House.

Mr. Trump also took part in an event on the Shield of the Americas, an initiative Mr. Trump launched with Latin American countries earlier this year focused on combatting violent cartels.

The visit to the UN comes as Mr. Trump’s foreign policy approach – particularly his decision to start a war with Iran – has become a drag on his fellow Republicans’ hopes of retaining control of both chambers of Congress during the coming midterm elections.

Nevertheless, Mr. Trump made the case in his speech that the world is better off for his leadership.

“I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day,” Mr. Trump said.

In last year’s address at the UN, Mr. Trump claimed the U.S. had “demolished” Iran’s nuclear capabilities after he ordered the June 2025 bombardment of three key facilities.

He returned to the General Assembly nearing the seven-month mark of a new war against Iran that he insists is necessary to address a nuclear threat posed by Iran.

The war has grown more complicated even though strikes by the United States and Israel have killed much of Iran’s top leadership and destroyed its air force and navy, while a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil has left Tehran in economic shambles.

The energy market continues to be spooked by the war and oil prices remain elevated.

Saudi Arabia earlier this month shuttered a key pipeline that acted as a relief valve for oil blocked in the Gulf. The kingdom made the move after the pipeline came under attack by Iran-backed militants in Iraq.

At the same time, territorial grabs by the Yemen-based Houthi rebels, another Iranian-backed group, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait has now made it treacherous for oil carriers to use that Red Sea shipping lane.

In his address, the President also touched on Russia’s continuing war against Ukraine – a conflict that, during his 2024 campaign, he predicted would be resolved on Day One of his second term. He once again expressed hope that the conflict will soon be resolved.

Mr. Trump hasn’t obscured that his patience is being tested by Ukraine’s targeting of Russia’s diesel refineries – an issue that’s added to the global oil markets’ volatility – and Russia’s targeting of Ukraine’s energy grid.

Mr. Trump last week asserted that he got the two sides to agree to not target each other’s energy infrastructure.

Mr. Zelenskyy had said he was willing to go along with Mr. Trump’s plan if Russia abided by it. Russia said it could only go along with Mr. Trump’s energy truce proposal if Western energy sanctions on Moscow were lifted first.

The two sides have continued carrying out strikes on refineries and other energy infrastructure.

Mr. Trump noted that last week he signed a new sanctions bill targeting Moscow. It empowers him to impose up to 100% tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas.

The legislation includes an exception for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce those imports. Mr. Trump, however, has yet to enact the stiff penalties.

“If necessary, I will have to use them,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s time to stop the killing.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump. File
| Photo Credit: AP

United States President Donald Trump at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on September 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Left to Right: CNN reporter holds an empty credential folder following the ban, Donald Trump’s file photo.
| Photo Credit: AP, Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump showed off his new White House helicopter landing pad, attempting to brush aside a First Amendment firestorm even as major television networks kept their cameras away in protest of CNN being banned from the grounds.

A drizzle fell on the South Lawn on Monday (September 21, 2026) as Mr. Trump used oversized gold scissors to cut a red, white and blue ribbon.

He then exchanged handshakes with officials and some members of a construction crew wearing green smocks and hard hats – seeking to portray business as usual.

If he had words to mark the occasion, however, it was impossible to hear them over the noise of his waiting helicopter. Normally, TV network crews work to capture clearer audio.

Mr. Trump didn’t answer reporters’ shouted questions before climbing aboard Marine One on his way to New York. Instead, he wrote on his social media site, “We are just leaving the White House Lawn on the maiden voyage from the newly built, and very beautiful, Heliport!” MS Now, Politico and CNN have sued after Mr. Trump announced Friday (September 18, 2026) that he was banning them from covering the White House in a clear escalation of Mr. Trump’s long-running efforts – in the courts and through administrative action – to restrict news coverage he finds objectionable.

CNN normally participates in a five-network rotation that provides pooled footage of daily events at the White House.

When the network was barred from taking its assigned turn on Monday (September 21, 2026), ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News agreed collectively to the extraordinary step of skipping Mr. Trump’s helipad ceremony.

Mr. Trump has long crowed about how the new helipad – featuring extensive granite that he boasts will have a “million-year life,” as well as a large insignia reading the “Seal of the President of the United States” – would impress Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrives Wednesday (September 23, 2026) for a state visit.

He’s been focused on wowing Mr. Xi even as he decried Democrats as communists in an attempt to help Republicans retain control of Congress in upcoming midterm elections.

But his effort to curb access for media outlets to the White House has overshadowed Mr. Trump’s pet building projects and Mr. Xi’s visit.

Igniting constitutional questions over media access also eclipsed the reason Mr. Trump was lifting off from the helipad – the annual trip to attend the United Nations General Assembly beginning on Tuesday (September 22, 2026).

Speaking later to reporters in New York after meeting with the city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, Mr. Trump tried again to shrug off the lack of network TV coverage of his movements.

“It’s interesting because they said they were gonna boycott me. But they never boycott me,” the President said, before adding, “I think that these outlets have an obligation to be fair.” The President has spent large swaths of his second term focused on building projects even as his administration struggles to find a way out of the ongoing war in Iran.

Mr. Trump’s approval ratings have sunk with only about six weeks before Election Day, as voters are increasingly worried about inflation and a potentially weakening economy.

His successor in the Oval Office could move to undo much of his renovation work at the White House. And, in line with Mr. Trump’s assertions that the new helipad granite could last a million years, the president has made other grand pronouncements about his prowess with renovation projects that quickly fell flat.

He said the refurbishing of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool would last a century, only for the paint to fade and its liner to peel away in chunks just days after it was laid.

The helipad work began in June. Mr. Trump also ripped out the original Tennessee flagstone along the West Wing’s colonnade and replaced it with black granite.

He similarly refurbished the traditional walkway from the White House’s diplomatic entrance with white granite, along with a portion of the asphalt driveway around the South Lawn.

Mr. Trump rushed to finish the project before Mr. Xi arrives and has argued that visiting dignitaries will be dazzled by the project – despite Marine One being the only aircraft that lands so close to the White House.

The President says the improvement was required since Vietnam War-era choppers that had long been used as Marine One are being replaced by modern ones that are too powerful to land on the White House lawn without damaging the lawn’s grass.

Mr. Trump has spent months repeatedly talking about grass as a way to promote his various building plans, even though many of the construction projects required ripping up turf.

Mr. Trump said in July that the helipad project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million. Additional changes, including extensive efforts to level the ground around the helipad, have made calculating the exact expenditure difficult.

The once-storied South Lawn has become a major construction site this year. In June, Mr. Trump erected a fighting cage and temporary arena for a UFC fight marking his 80th birthday. Then, crews got down to work on the helipad.

Mr. Trump says Sikorsky Aircraft – a subsidiary of defence contracting giant Lockheed Martin – would be paying for the helipad, since the company made the newer, larger helicopters. In his online post, Mr. Trump thanked Lockheed Martin’s CEO.

Some of Mr. Trump’s projects have relied on public money, even when the President initially suggested otherwise.

When crews originally demolished the White House’s East Wing to make room for Trump’s $400 million ballroom, the President said it would be paid for by private donors.

But his administration later sought $1 billion from Congress to make security improvements to the structure.

Published – September 22, 2026 08:23 am IST

(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.)

War is the reality of our times. Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine began over four years ago. It is nearly three years since the United States-Israel combine’s war, termed by many experts as genocidal, began. And the U.S. war on Iran, triggered by the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026, has lasted nearly seven months. The U.S. also appears fearful about a rapid escalation in West Asia after the Houthis attacked Riyadh recently.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions have repeatedly shown us that where he cannot take on an adversary on the battlefield, he will turn to tariffs and sanctions. In a move aimed at increasing the economic pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine, U.S. lawmakers voted to pass a sweeping bill last week, imposing sanctions on Russia’s defence and energy sectors. The steep levies that entail the legislation, passed with strong bipartisan support on Wednesday, will impact not just Moscow, but also its top energy buyers, including India and China.  

“On Friday, September 18, 2026, the President signed into law: H.R. 5334, the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026”, which authorizes and expands statutory sanctions, tariffs, and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran,” the White House said.

In a statement reacting to the move, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “India remains firmly committed to ensuring energy security for its 1.4 billion people” via diversified sourcing of energy inputs, determined according to evolving market forces. India would also “protect its trade and economic interests”. Read Sriram Lakshman’s report for context on the legislation.

The Hindu’s Economics and Business Editor T.C.A. Sharad Raghavan has been closely tracking developments around this move, as well as trends in India’s oil imports. He combed through the latest official data and found out that Russia accounted for more than 51% of India’s oil imports in July, an all-time-high.

His analysis of data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed that India imported 110.4 lakh tonnes of oil from Russia in July 2026, the latest month for which data is available. This works out to nearly 52% of India’s total oil imports that month, the highest-ever share that Russian oil has enjoyed. India’s oil imports from Russia in July 2026 were also 26% higher than in June, and nearly 55% higher than in July last year. This sharp increase in volumes, coupled with elevated oil prices, also meant that India’s Russian oil import bill shot up in July 2026 as compared to last year. That is, India’s import bill on Russian oil stood at $7.3 billion in July 2026 more than double the $3.6 billion spent in July last year.  

Writing on how the new legislation and the subsequent sanctions are likely to affect India, T.C.A. Sharad Raghavan notes: The impact on India’s economy has to be looked at in terms of two eventualities. The first is if India continues to buy large quantities of Russian oil and bears the tariffs. The second is if India cuts back on Russian oil imports and manages to have the potential tariffs removed. In the event that India continues to buy Russian oil and bears the tariffs, we can look at what happened during the period when the 50% tariffs were in force, between August 2025 and February 2026, to gauge the likely impact.

Further, along with our colleague Kallol Bhattacherjee, he looked at data to see how India has responded to U.S. curbs in the past decade. Over the last decade or so, India has complied with U.S. pressure to reduce oil imports from countries it has sought to isolate, such as Venezuela, Iran, and Russia, even though they were important sources. Once the U.S. pressure eased, official data show that India almost immediately turned back to these sources of oil, they wrote.

The economic impact is one aspect, the political impact and the diplomatic fallout are other aspects to consider. However one may see it, it is hard to ignore the serious escalation in tensions between the U.S. and India, as our editorial today makes clear.

“The escalation last year of reciprocal tariffs to 50% on India’s import of Russian oil was based on an Executive Order, and could be rescinded through the same method. This latest Act has been passed by the U.S. Congress and so carries a higher order of legal permanence and authority,” it observed, adding: “India’s ability to secure a low rate will be a true test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s friendship with Mr. Trump.”

In our neighbourhood 

Closer to home, New Delhi continues navigating sensitive ties with India’s neighbours. Nepal’s Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, an economist and former UNDP official, made his first visit abroad to Delhi to discuss plans with the government, and will soon travel to meetings of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank to seek support for an estimated $5 billion recovery project. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar, Mr. Wagle said the new Balen Shah government in Nepal wants a “reset” with India, and a revision of old trade and connectivity projects.

Meanwhile, Kallol Bhattacherjee reports that after a brief disruption in ties, India and Bangladesh have resumed official-level talks to firm up plans for a visit by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to New Delhi.

Published – September 21, 2026 12:30 pm IST

China’s President Xi Jinping, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. File photo
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. and Chinese economic officials discussed creating a communication channel for AI concerns at meetings on Sunday (September 20, 2026) as they set the stage for a summit of the countries’ top leaders this week.

The talks come as both powers confront rising fears that increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems could wipe out humanity, offering a rare incentive for cooperation despite an intensifying race for technological supremacy.

“We just had a very successful engagement with the Chinese on trade and AI,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters after long talks with a team led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

The talks are a prelude to a planned White House meeting on Thursday (September 24) of the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies: U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The discussions, which also included the top U.S. trade official Jamieson Greer, lasted around eight hours at JPMorgan Chase’s headquarters in New York.

Mr. Bessant said the two sides discussed setting up a way to communicate about AI issues called the “U.S.-China AI dialogue.” “The U.S. has proposed that we have a notification mechanism between the two countries,” Mr. Bessent said.

Such notifications are for potential “incidents,” or a situation “that rises up to a national security level from AI,” he said, adding that both sides have agreed to meet again.

Mr. Bessent and Donald Trump also spoke one-on-one during the day, a source familiar with the matter said.

Chinese state media described the meetings as “candid, in-depth, and constructive” on Monday (September 21).

“The two sides engaged in discussions on key economic and trade issues of mutual interest, such as implementing the consensus from previous consultations and promoting bilateral trade and investment,” Xinhua news agency said in a brief readout.

Chinese and U.S. officials also held a dialogue on “issues related to AI”, Xinhua added, without giving any further details.

Chinese official Li Chenggang, who was elevated to a top-level international trade representative post shortly before the meetings, was present in the New York talks too. But the Chinese delegation did not address reporters.

Mr. Greer stressed on Sunday (September 20) it is “imperative that we are able to work together.”

Both sides are looking to ease tensions on trade, technology and other strategic concerns. These include the possible extension of a trade truce and guardrails for AI development.

Non-sensitive trade

Asked about the possibility of mutual tariff reduction on certain goods, Mr. Greer said teams “are continuing to work through this.”

The aim is to identify “non-sensitive” goods that can be considered separately from trade measures in the future, he added.

Such products could include consumer goods from the Chinese side and energy, agricultural, and other products, such as medical devices, on the U.S. side.

Beyond less sensitive items, U.S. officials are also seeking to ensure the continued flow of rare earth magnets and critical minerals that are vital for U.S. manufacturers.

Working level meetings could continue into Monday (September 21), a source familiar with discussions earlier told AFP.

Previous negotiations saw China pledge purchases of U.S. agriculture goods too, and their fulfilment of the terms could also be an issue under scrutiny.

Another issue is U.S. economic pressure on Iran, as Washington’s war with Tehran has entered its seventh month.

China is a top economic partner of Iran that buys much of its oil output and a key diplomatic backer.

Analysts caution that expectations for the Trump-Xi summit are low.

“One of the only things we can hope for in the short term is a truce, and that this will likely continue through the remainder of this year,” said former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

“I think you will hear the President announce the intention to meet with Xi Jinping two more times,” added Mr. Campbell, who is now chairman of The Asia Group consultancy.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi are expected to meet in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shenzhen, China. Mr. Trump is also anticipated to invite Mr. Xi to the G20 summit in December at his Doral resort in Miami.

Published – September 21, 2026 09:32 am IST

Vehicles drive past along the Memorial Bridge near Memorial Circle in Arlington, Virginia, the proposed site for U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Triumphal Arch”, seen from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., U.S.
| Photo Credit: Reuters