OPINION:
President Donald Trump told the United Nations in no uncertain terms the body needed to change the way it was doing business — the global entity needed to “cut through the bureaucracy,” as he put it.
First off: Thank you, Mr. President, for not kissing the U.N.’s butt. Barack Obama did for years.
America — at least those of conservative, limited government, patriotic bent — grew weary of that kind of rhetoric.
Bluntly put: This was the United Nations, under Obama: “In his final address to the United Nations General Assembly as United States president, Barack Obama … delivered a ringing appeal for global integration in the face of religious fundamentalism, the politics of ethnicity, aggressive nationalism and crude populism, even as he called for course correction,” the United Nations’ news service reported back in September of 2016.
But Trump, circa September 2017?
He said the United Nations has fallen off its mission of helping people, in favor of one that only furthers the big bloat. His speech included remarks like this: “In recent years, the U.N. has not reached full potential” because of corruption.
And this: The United Nations’ “budget increased 140 percent” and its “staff has doubled” since 2000 — yet “we are not seeing results in line with expectations.”
And rather than point fingers at America, or proclaim the need for even more world government intervention in member states’ economies and politics, Trump called for U.N. reform.
His recommendations?
The United Nations need to “focus more on people,” less on bureaucracy; the U.N. needs to “protect whistleblowers” from retribution; the U.N. needs to “hold all layers of management accountable,” not just the little guy; and the U.N. needs to “ensure no one shoulders disproportionate shares of the burden” for global affairs.
That last was a subtle reminder: America gives way, way more to the United Nations than it gets in benefits.
Trump’s remarks, short and to-the-point, weren’t exactly received with cheers and applause from the chamber members. But those watching at home in America were thinking: Good first steps, Mr. President.
It was just nice hearing the White House put forth a strong message to the United Nations that didn’t pat the global body on the head but rather, put it on notice: Reform — or else.
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