President Donald Trump today delivered his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly, an address offered some insight into how the “America first” candidate will handle the international body he frequently criticized during his campaign.
Leaders from 193 member states began gathering Monday for meetings in New York. In brief remarks Monday morning, Trump criticized what he called the U.N.’s inefficiency and called for reform, though he did not threaten to withdraw funding, as he had during his 2016 campaign for president.
“In recent years, the United Nations has not reached its full potential due to bureaucracy and mismanagement,” Trump said. “We are not seeing the results in line with this investment.”
It’s also the first summit for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who previously ran the U.N.’s refugee agency for 10 years. The odds of reform rely heavily on his relationship with Trump, Stewart Patrick, a senior fellow and director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the PBS NewsHour.