The world got a reminder this week that American leadership still delivers where hollow international institutions only posture. President Trump stood on the sidelines in Kuala Lumpur as Thailand and Cambodia signed an expanded ceasefire, and he didn’t bother pretending the U.N. was the hero of the day — because it wasn’t.

This wasn’t a photo-op; it was a result of tough diplomacy and plainspoken pressure from a president who believes in leverage, not lectures. The Kuala Lumpur declaration commits both sides to withdraw heavy weapons, free detainees, and set up ASEAN observers to keep the peace — practical steps the U.N. bureaucracy has spent decades promising without delivering.

So when the president pointed out that the United Nations “was not involved,” he wasn’t whining, he was making a contrast Americans understand: action beats acronyms. For conservatives who have long mistrusted distant elites and international grandstanding, watching a deal actually get done while a global institution talks in platitudes was vindication.

Naturally, the establishment press and the predictable left went into outrage mode, offended that someone would dare to show them up. That’s because their instinct is always to protect institutions — even the ineffectual ones — rather than celebrate outcomes that keep people alive and borders quiet. The media could learn a thing or two about priorities from leaders who put peace ahead of prestige.

Cambodia’s nomination of President Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize was more than flattery; it was evidence that bold U.S. engagement still moves the needle in dangerous places. When foreign leaders publicly thank America for stepping up, that should embarrass the bureaucrats who prefer conferences to conflict resolution. Real results, not résumés, are what win peace.

Conservative patriots should be proud that a U.S. president reclaimed the role of dealmaker and held reckless actors to account with real consequences, not just press releases. Let the U.N. keep its resolutions and committees; Americans prefer sovereignty, toughness, and outcomes that protect ordinary lives and livelihoods.

This viral moment — the clip of Trump calling out the U.N. while shepherding a ceasefire into place — is exactly the kind of reminder the country needs: strength works, weakness talks. If conservatives run the conversation, we’ll keep pushing for an America-first foreign policy that secures peace through power, not permission.