On September 23, 2025, the world’s attention turned to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a speech that quickly set off a firestorm across Europe. Trump’s address was punctuated by a series of sweeping—and, as fact-checkers would soon reveal, often misleading—claims about Europe’s handling of migration, its political climate, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and even the realities of climate change. The fallout was immediate, with European leaders, notably UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, stepping forward to challenge Trump’s assertions and defend their countries’ values.
Trump did not mince words when it came to European immigration policy. "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," he declared, as reported by Euroverify. He painted a picture of a continent overwhelmed by what he termed an "unmitigated immigration disaster." But what do the numbers actually say?
According to Eurostat, the share of non-EU citizens in all 27 member states was just 6.4% of the total population in 2024, with 9.9% born outside the EU. In contrast, the U.S. itself reported a foreign-born or immigrant population of 15.8% as of January 2025. Trump’s focus was on illegal migration, yet Frontex, the EU’s border agency, recorded 239,000 irregular border crossings in 2024—a 25% drop from the previous year. The downward trend continued into the first half of 2025. These figures hardly support the narrative of spiraling chaos.
In response, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, speaking to BBC South East on September 25, was quick to refute Trump’s dire assessment. "Donald Trump is not right that European countries are going to hell because of migration," Starmer said. He emphasized, "We have a compassionate, reasonable, tolerant people in this country and I'm very proud of who we are." Starmer acknowledged disagreements with the U.S. president, calling them "in the nature of a relationship between a president and a prime minister," but underscored the UK’s commitment to fair and humane migration policies.
Starmer also addressed the practical challenges of illegal migration, particularly the small boat crossings in the English Channel. He outlined his goal to send "as many [migrants] as possible" back to France under the "one in one out" migrant returns agreement. While only four people had been returned under the scheme so far—numbers Starmer admitted were "small"—he insisted, "We've proved it could be done and now we need to ramp it up." He was careful not to promise more than what had been achieved, refusing to say if the scheme would deport more than 320 people, or 1% of arrivals so far in 2025. Starmer was blunt about the complexity: "There is no silver bullet," he said, stressing the need for close cooperation with France on maritime tactics.
Trump’s speech also veered into more controversial territory, particularly with his claim that London "wants to go to Sharia law." This assertion echoed conspiracy theories about London’s first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, and the supposed "Islamification" of the city. Sharia, meaning "path" in Arabic, is the Islamic legal system. While Sharia councils do exist in the UK, their decisions—on matters like marriage and divorce—are not legally binding. No evidence supports the idea that London is moving toward Sharia law, or that Mayor Khan has advocated for such a shift.
Khan himself responded forcefully, stating, "People are wondering what it is about this Muslim mayor who leads a liberal, multi-cultural, progressive and successful city, that means I appear to be living rent-free inside Donald Trump's head." He further accused Trump of being "racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic." False stories about Khan’s intentions, such as the claim he planned to build 40,000 homes exclusively for Muslims, have circulated online but have been thoroughly debunked. Khan’s actual pledge was to build 40,000 new council homes, without any religious stipulation.
The U.S. president’s remarks on the ongoing war in Ukraine were equally contentious. Trump claimed that "Russia and Ukraine are killing anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 young soldiers, mostly soldiers on both sides, every single week." However, fact-checkers, including Euroverify, have found these figures to be inflated. Based on available data, the estimated number of military deaths on both sides is closer to 1,850 per week. The BBC’s Russian service and Mediazona identified the names of 100,000 dead Russian soldiers as of April 2025, with estimates of total Russian military deaths ranging from 158,000 to 250,000 since the war began in February 2022. For Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed at over 46,000 by February 2025, while the Wall Street Journal estimated around 80,000 as of September 2024—a figure Zelenskyy has disputed. The fog of war makes precise counts difficult, but Trump’s numbers appear to be well above the most credible estimates.
Climate change was another flashpoint in Trump’s speech. He dismissed global warming as "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world," and claimed, "Europe loses more than 175,000 people to heat death every year because the costs are so expensive you can't turn on an air conditioner." Yet, a study published in Nature Medicine found that over 62,700 people died in Europe from heat-related causes in 2024, and more than 181,000 died from heat complications during the summers of 2022 to 2024. The European Environment Agency reported that Europe is warming at twice the global average, with temperatures rising by up to 2.26°C compared to a global mean of 1.28°C.
Europe’s struggle with heat is compounded by its low rate of air conditioning: only 19% of households had units in 2022, compared to 76% in North America and 47% in Asia-Pacific. Historically, Europe’s mild climate and heat-retaining architecture made air conditioning less necessary, but now, with heatwaves becoming more frequent and severe, demand is rising. European governments face a dilemma: how to keep people cool without exacerbating the very climate crisis that’s making summers deadlier.
Despite Trump’s dismissals, the scientific consensus is unequivocal: climate change is real, it is driven by human activity, and it poses a grave threat to societies worldwide. European leaders, scientists, and institutions continue to push for aggressive action, even as political debates rage on both sides of the Atlantic.
As the dust settles from Trump’s UN address, one thing is clear: the facts on the ground—and in the data—tell a far more nuanced story than the one painted from the podium. For European leaders like Starmer and Khan, the challenge is not just to rebut misinformation, but to chart a path forward that is both humane and effective, even in the face of political headwinds and global scrutiny.
