Donald Trump went before the United Nations on Tuesday with a familiar argument.

The United States should not allow international institutions to dictate what America can do.

There is nothing particularly strange about that argument.

Every government has a responsibility to protect the interests of its own country.

But the question is whether Trump’s approach actually gives the United States more power.

Because much of what was being said around him at the United Nations suggested something different.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke immediately before Trump.

His argument emphasized international cooperation, diplomacy, and stronger multilateral institutions.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres made a similar case.

In his final General Assembly address, Guterres called for international cooperation on artificial intelligence, climate change, and global conflicts.

And that exposes the real disagreement.

Trump’s approach places greater emphasis on leverage, tariffs, and military strength.

But much of the world gathered in New York this week is making a different argument.

They are fighting for a world where sovereignty and cooperation do not have to be opposites.

In fact, in the world of the future, which Republicans, led by Trump, are fighting to hold back, cooperation can be one of the ways a country becomes more powerful.

The United States helped build much of the international system after World War II for precisely that reason.

And Trump’s own foreign policy has demonstrated the limitations of going alone.

His unilateral tariffs have produced significant economic costs and international resistance, and he has failed to end conflicts he promised voters he would quickly resolve.

That is all the more reason much of the world gathered in New York this week is making a defiant argument against Trump’s increasingly unilateral way of conducting international affairs.

Under Trump, America’s global relationships have come under significant strain, putting pressure on alliances and institutions that the United States spent generations building.

The only question now is whether, on November 3, the American people will change the balance of power in Congress and potentially constrain parts of the Trump administration’s agenda.