FOREIGN POLICY/NATO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UN: “President Donald Trump’s debut at the United Nations’ annual gathering of world leaders was set to kick off with a U.S.-hosted event on overhauls at the world body.
Monday’s [9-18-17] summit, set to be attended by world leaders and senior officials from more than 100 countries, comes a day before Mr. Trump’s highly anticipated official address at the General Assembly.
Mr. Trump, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley are scheduled to deliver speeches on U.N. overhauls focused on better efficiency, transparency and management, diplomats said.
While Messrs. Guterres and Trump are at odds about issues including the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord, they appear to share a common view on the need to make the U.N. more effective and influential, diplomats said. Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his skepticism about international organizations such as the U.N. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, last year said the U.N. is ‘not a friend of democracy’ and ‘not a friend of freedom.’
The U.S. is the top financial contributor to the U.N., donating 28.5% of the $7.3 billion peacekeeping budget and 22% of its core budget of $5.4 billion. The U.S. is conducting a mission-by-mission review of the U.N.’s 16 peacekeeping operations and lobbied to slash $600 million this year from the peacekeeping budget.”
-Farnaz Fassihi, “Trump to Take an Agenda of Change to the United Nations,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 18, 2017 05:30am