Donald Trump, in UN debut, urges the world body to reform

The president pushed the UN to focus more on people and less on bureaucracy and to change business as usual.

Update: 2017-09-18 20:47 GMT
Donald Trump

President Donald Trump made his debut at the United Nations on Monday, using his first moments at the world body to urge the 193-nation organisation to reduce bureaucracy and costs while more clearly defining its mission around the world.

But while Mr Trump chastised the United Nations — an organisation he sharply criticized as a candidate for president for its spiraling costs — he said the United States would “pledge to be partners in your work” in order to make the UN “a more effective force” for peace across the globe.

“In recent years, the United Nations has not reached its full potential due to bureaucracy and mismanagement,” said Mr Trump, who rebuked the United Nations for a ballooning budget. “We are not seeing the results in line with this investment.”

The president pushed the UN to focus “more on people and less on bureaucracy” and to change “business as usual and not be beholden to ways of the past which were not working”.   

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