US President Donald Trump will deliver a "major speech" to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (September 23), according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. According to Ms Leavitt, Mr Trump will speak on the "renewal of American strength around the world" under his leadership.

Mr Trump arrived in New York on Monday evening aboard Marine 1 after travelling from Air Force 1 at JFK airport, ready to participate in the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. He is also set to hold one-on-one meetings with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina and the European Union. The US President will also hold a group meeting with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. He will return to Washington after hosting a reception on Tuesday night with more than 100 world leaders.

This announcement comes after Mr Trump descended into a mad anti-vaccine rant during an extraordinary White House press conference in which he also urged pregnant women not to take paracetamol, claiming the drug causes autism.

At one point, after he was asked whether he believed autism was linked to vaccinations, he replied: “Vaccines are very interesting. “They can be great, but when you put the wrong stuff in them, you know… And, you know, children get these massive vaccines like you’d give to a horse… like you’d give to a horse."

He continued: “And I’ve said for a long time, I mean, this is no secret – spread them out over five years. Get five shots, small ones.

"Did you ever see what they give? I mean, for a little baby to be injected with that much fluid, even beyond the actual ingredients, they have sometimes 80 different vaccines in them. It’s crazy.”

He also described autism as "one of the most alarming public health developments in history," claiming that cases have "gone up almost 400% since 2000—now it's 1 in 31 kids. That's not natural; that's an epidemic."

Mr Trump's use of statistics is highly controversial, given that most experts believe the increased rates stem from better diagnosis.

Mr Trump also seemed to suggest paracetamol – known as Tylenol in the US – was partly responsible for a spike in autism diagnoses, urging pregnant women not to take it.