Trump pressures Palestinian UN envoy to drop Gen Assembly vice presidency bid

President Donald Trump's administration threatened to revoke the visas of the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations if the Palestinian ambassador refuses to end his candidacy for the vice presidency of the U.N. General Assembly, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters.



In a cable dated Wednesday, U.S. diplomats in its embassy in Jerusalem are instructed to deliver the message that Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour's general assembly bid "fuels tensions", risks to undermine Trump's Gaza peace plan and would therefore face consequences from Washington if it went ahead.



"To be clear, we will hold the PA responsible if the Palestinian delegation does not withdraw its VPGA candidacy," the cable, marked sensitive but unclassified, said, referring to the Palestinian Authority which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank.



Among the talking points provided in the cable to U.S. diplomats, the State Department's September 2025 decision to waive visa sanctions for Palestinian officials assigned to the Palestinian U.N. mission in New York was noted.