India, Sept. 22 -- Donald Trump returned to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday presenting a list of conflicts he said the United States had ended and arguing that the world should recognize Washington's role.

The setting made that claim more complicated. One floor above, the president of a country that the U.S. government had been bombing for seven months was scheduled to respond.

The juxtaposition framed the speech's central tension: Trump's portrayal of American power as a force for peace versus the reality of an ongoing campaign involving the United States.

The juxtaposition was almost clinical in its precision. Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's president, was scheduled fifth on Tuesday's speaker list. His prepared remarks, circ...