Trump dismisses the United Nations as just a club where people ‘have a good time’
Days after the United Nations voted to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Donald Trump dismissed the world body as just a club for people to “have a good time”.
The president-elect wrote on Twitter that the UN has “such great potential”, but it has become “just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!”
On Friday, Trump warned, “As to the UN, things will be different after Jan 20th,” referring to the day he takes office.
The decision by the Obama administration to abstain from Friday’s UN vote brushed aside Trump’s demands that the US exercise its veto and provided a climax to years of icy relations with Israel’s leadership.
Trump told The Associated Press last December that he wanted to be “very neutral” on Israel-Palestinian issues. But his tone became decidedly more pro-Israel as the presidential campaign progressed. He has spoken disparagingly of Palestinians, saying they have been “taken over” by or are condoning militant groups.
Trump’s criticism of the UN is by no means unique. While the organisation does engage in large-scale humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts around the world, its massive bureaucracy has long been a source of controversy.
The organisation has been accused by some Western governments of being inefficient and frivolous, while developing nations have said it is overly influenced by wealthier nations.
The president-elect is spending the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
