Trump demands, ‘Make the United Nations Great’
President leaves off ‘Again’ part in his repurposed slogan
“Make the United Nations Great.”
That’s how President Trump described his message to world leaders this week as he made his first visit to the United Nations as commander in chief.
At a special forum Monday, Trump called on members of the international body to pay more for joint projects — such as peacekeeping missions — and complained that the United States pays an outsized share of the costs.
Asked afterward about his message for the New York trip, Trump riffed off his 2016 presidential campaign slogan: “I think the main message is ‘ Make the United Nations Great’ — not ‘Again,’ ” he said.
Trump, a longtime critic of the United Nations, said in a fourminute speech earlier Monday that the organization has not reached its full potential “because of bureaucracy and mismanagement.”
As he did on the campaign trail, Trump stressed that other countries need to step up their financial and military contributions to the United Nations. “We must ensure that no one and no member state shoulders a disproportionate share of the burden,” Trump said.
The United States covers about 22% of the U.N. budget.
Trump’s remarks at the forum — called “Reforming the United Nations: Management, Security and Development” — kicked off four days of meetings and receptions at the United Nations. He will speak Tuesday morning to the entire 193-member General Assembly.
Nikki Haley, Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, de- scribed the meeting as a sign that “it truly is a new day at the United Nations.”
Trump, who ran for president on an “America First” platform, had harsh words for the United Nations on the campaign trail. Trump said, “The United Nations is not a friend of democracy; it’s not a friend to freedom.” He’s described the United Nations as “a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”
Trump’s appearance at the United Nations will be highly scrutinized, given the disputes over trade, climate change and NATO participation that ensued during previous international summits.
In preparing for his week-long series of U.N. meetings, Trump’s major objective was to rally global support for pressuring North Korea into giving up nuclear weapons — or at least stop threatening to use them against the United States and its allies in Asia.
Though Trump and his aides said they want to resolve the dispute diplomatically, they have suggested there could be a military option. Over the weekend, Trump described North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man.”
Many White House officials are out and about in New York this week.
Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, attended an “energy breakfast” with U.N. counterparts.
During the meeting, the White House said, Cohn repeated statements by other aides that the United States will maintain plans to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement unless it can negotiate more favorable terms.
“This position was made very clear during the breakfast,” the White House said in a statement.
Trump, who paused during the morning to tweet out a tribute to the U.S. Air Force on its 70th anniversary, also planned to address his concerns about Iran.
The president is considering whether to decertify the nuclear agreement that predecessor Barack Obama signed in 2015. Iran agreed to give up the means to make nuclear weapons as the United States and allies reduced economic sanctions. Trump said Iran isn’t living up to “the spirit” of the deal.
Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has urged the United States to “fix” the nuclear agreement or scrap it.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said over the weekend that his country would respond to any “wrong move” by the United States.