Trump Says ‘Bureaucracy’ Holding UN Back
UNITED NATIONS - US President Donald Trump on Monday warned “bureaucracy” is holding the United Nations back, a barbed message during his first appearance at an institution he once derided as a talking shop.
Kicking off a frantic week of diplomacy with a panel discussion on UN reform, Trump noted a personal history with the New York-based institution.
He had seen “great potential right across the street” from UN headquarters, Trump said, referencing his nearby 72-floor residential skyscraper Trump World Tower.
“To be honest with you, and it was only for the reason that the United Nations was here that that turned out to be such a successful project,” the businessman-turned-president told delegates.
But Trump also warned that the United States - a founding member of the UN and its biggest financial contributor - wanted a better return on its investment.
“The United Nations was founded on truly noble goals” he said, adding that while progress has been made “in recent years the United Nations has not reached its full potential, because of bureaucracy and mismanagement.” “While the United Nations on a regular budget has increased by 140 percent, and its staff has more than doubled since 2000, we are not seeing the results in line with this investment.”
He called on the institution to “focus on results,” a call that was echoed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who said a reformed UN needs to focus “more on people and less on process.”
France on Monday led a push at the United Nations to keep the United States in the Paris climate agreement, as Donald Trump’s administration insisted it was not changing gears. Gary Cohn, the chief White House economic adviser, reiterated Trump’s opposition to the landmark accord as he met over breakfast with officials from other major economies at the start of the UN General Assembly, an annual week of diplomacy.
But French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, whose government has made preserving the agreement reached in the French capital in 2015 a top priority, held out hope. US President Donald Trump makes his debut at the United Nations on Monday, with an address on UN reform as a week of intense diplomacy kicks off, dominated by worries about North Korea, Iran and Myanmar. Trump, who once disparaged the world body as a “club” for “people to get together, talk and have a good time,” will lay out his views on how to improve the United Nations a day before he makes his first address to the General Assembly. About 130 world leaders are attending this year’s global gathering, but all eyes will be on Trump, whose “America First” agenda has alarmed both allies and foes.
The UN’s number one financial backer, the United States has threatened deep cuts to UN funding that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said would create an “unsolvable problem” for the world body.
Guterres, who is pushing for an overhaul of the UN bureaucracy, will also address the event at which leaders will sign a pledge of support for reform.
France and Russia have reacted coolly to the US initiative, amid concerns that the US administration is focused more on cost-cutting than improving the UN’s performance.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley was a driving force behind a $600-million-dollar cut to the UN peacekeeping budget this year. Haley on Friday pointed to the more than 120 countries that back the US-drafted political declaration on UN reform as a “miraculous number,” showing there is support for a “massive reform package” led by Guterres.
On Monday, Trump will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who will also be making his maiden address at the General Assembly on Tuesday, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Both Macron and Netanyahu are expected to raise the future of the Iran nuclear agreement, with the French leader making a strong case for keeping it alive and the Israeli prime minister pushing for its demise.
Trump will also have a working dinner with Latin American leaders that will touch on the crisis in Venezuela.
North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests will be in the spotlight with foreign ministers set to discuss enforcing sanctions against Pyongyang during a Security Council meeting on non-proliferation on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Trump will be holding talks with Japanese and South Korean leaders who have backed the US drive to ratchet up sanctions on North Korea.
The council last week imposed a new raft of measures such as a ban on export textiles and a cap on oil shipments to pile pressure on Pyongyang to come to the table and negotiate an end to its nuclear and missile programs.
Russia and China, however, are calling for diplomatic talks with North Korea while warning that a military option as suggested by the United States would have catastrophic consequences.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will host a meeting on the military campaign in Myanmar which the United Nations has described as “ethnic cleansing” after more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee.
The closed-door meeting will be attended by a representative from Myanmar and by foreign ministers from “a range of countries with a strong interest in seeing an end to the violence there,” a British diplomat said.
Ahead of the opening of the General Assembly, UN member-states will discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Irma that devastated parts of the United States and the Caribbean.
The hurricane disaster offers a reminder of the destructive force of nature as leaders set their sights on implementing the Paris agreement on climate change despite the US withdrawal from the deal.
Kicking off a frantic week of diplomacy with a panel discussion on UN reform, Trump noted a personal history with the New York-based institution.
He had seen “great potential right across the street” from UN headquarters, Trump said, referencing his nearby 72-floor residential skyscraper Trump World Tower.
“To be honest with you, and it was only for the reason that the United Nations was here that that turned out to be such a successful project,” the businessman-turned-president told delegates.
But Trump also warned that the United States - a founding member of the UN and its biggest financial contributor - wanted a better return on its investment.
“The United Nations was founded on truly noble goals” he said, adding that while progress has been made “in recent years the United Nations has not reached its full potential, because of bureaucracy and mismanagement.” “While the United Nations on a regular budget has increased by 140 percent, and its staff has more than doubled since 2000, we are not seeing the results in line with this investment.”
He called on the institution to “focus on results,” a call that was echoed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who said a reformed UN needs to focus “more on people and less on process.”
France on Monday led a push at the United Nations to keep the United States in the Paris climate agreement, as Donald Trump’s administration insisted it was not changing gears. Gary Cohn, the chief White House economic adviser, reiterated Trump’s opposition to the landmark accord as he met over breakfast with officials from other major economies at the start of the UN General Assembly, an annual week of diplomacy.
But French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, whose government has made preserving the agreement reached in the French capital in 2015 a top priority, held out hope. US President Donald Trump makes his debut at the United Nations on Monday, with an address on UN reform as a week of intense diplomacy kicks off, dominated by worries about North Korea, Iran and Myanmar. Trump, who once disparaged the world body as a “club” for “people to get together, talk and have a good time,” will lay out his views on how to improve the United Nations a day before he makes his first address to the General Assembly. About 130 world leaders are attending this year’s global gathering, but all eyes will be on Trump, whose “America First” agenda has alarmed both allies and foes.
The UN’s number one financial backer, the United States has threatened deep cuts to UN funding that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said would create an “unsolvable problem” for the world body.
Guterres, who is pushing for an overhaul of the UN bureaucracy, will also address the event at which leaders will sign a pledge of support for reform.
France and Russia have reacted coolly to the US initiative, amid concerns that the US administration is focused more on cost-cutting than improving the UN’s performance.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley was a driving force behind a $600-million-dollar cut to the UN peacekeeping budget this year. Haley on Friday pointed to the more than 120 countries that back the US-drafted political declaration on UN reform as a “miraculous number,” showing there is support for a “massive reform package” led by Guterres.
On Monday, Trump will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who will also be making his maiden address at the General Assembly on Tuesday, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Both Macron and Netanyahu are expected to raise the future of the Iran nuclear agreement, with the French leader making a strong case for keeping it alive and the Israeli prime minister pushing for its demise.
Trump will also have a working dinner with Latin American leaders that will touch on the crisis in Venezuela.
North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests will be in the spotlight with foreign ministers set to discuss enforcing sanctions against Pyongyang during a Security Council meeting on non-proliferation on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Trump will be holding talks with Japanese and South Korean leaders who have backed the US drive to ratchet up sanctions on North Korea.
The council last week imposed a new raft of measures such as a ban on export textiles and a cap on oil shipments to pile pressure on Pyongyang to come to the table and negotiate an end to its nuclear and missile programs.
Russia and China, however, are calling for diplomatic talks with North Korea while warning that a military option as suggested by the United States would have catastrophic consequences.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will host a meeting on the military campaign in Myanmar which the United Nations has described as “ethnic cleansing” after more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee.
The closed-door meeting will be attended by a representative from Myanmar and by foreign ministers from “a range of countries with a strong interest in seeing an end to the violence there,” a British diplomat said.
Ahead of the opening of the General Assembly, UN member-states will discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Irma that devastated parts of the United States and the Caribbean.
The hurricane disaster offers a reminder of the destructive force of nature as leaders set their sights on implementing the Paris agreement on climate change despite the US withdrawal from the deal.
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