U.N. bureaucrats make juicy targets for Trump
President fires opening shots before big speech
NEW YORK — “Make the United Nations great — not again. Make the United Nations great.” That will be the message behind President Donald Trump’s maiden speech Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly.
During brief remarks Monday before a U.N. Management, Security and Development meeting, Trump found fault and good in the United Nations. He praised the international body for “affirming the dignity and worth of the human person and striving for international peace.”
Then he added, “Yet 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.”
The president urged the U.N. to focus “more on people and less on bureaucracy” and to change “business as usual and not be beholden to ways of the past.”
Overbureaucratization is a theme that also has been picked up by Nikki Haley, Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, and to some extent by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who in June oversaw a
$600 million cut in U.N. peacekeeping spending.
While Trump criticized U.N. spending, he also praised Guterres for his reform efforts and noted that
U.N.
most of the 193 member nations support a reform package endorsed by both leaders. He also pledged that the United States would “be partners in your work” to make the organization a more effective force for peace across the globe.
Of course, Trump could not visit U.N. headquarters without making a nod to the world body’s real-estate footprint and its role in prompting him to build the Trump World Tower. He began his short remarks with the observation, “I actually saw great potential right across the street, 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.”
Drama on international stage
In the past, U.N. reforms have been “successful when things came together,” said Brett Schaefer of the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. That includes dealing with scandals, such as recent revelations about sexual exploitation by U.N. peacekeeping forces sent to protect vulnerable populations. That Trump co-hosted Monday’s panel also helps.
Schaefer said he expects Tuesday’s address to be similar to the speech Trump made in Warsaw in July — scripted, “aimed at a particular audience” and a thoughtful effort to persuade other world leaders.
Trump arrived in New York as the international stage has been saturated with drama. In the last month, North Korea expanded its nuclear weapons testing. During a weekend tweet, Trump called strongman Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man” — prompting some critics to complain about his flippant tone.
Last week, terrorists set off a bomb in London’s massive subway system. Muslim refugees fleeing Myanmar amassed on the border with Bangladesh. And the White House has been