REUTERS
U.S. President Donald Trump, a frequent critic of the United Nations, will seek to gather global support for reforming the world body when he hosts an event at UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 18, a day before he formally addresses the 193-member organization, according to Reuters.
Countries will be invited to attend Trump’s function if they sign on to a U.S.-drafted 10-point political declaration backing efforts by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “to initiate effective, meaningful reform,” according to a draft of the political declaration seen by Reuters on Friday.
Trump has complained that the U.S. share of the world body’s budget is unfair, pushed to slash funding and described it as a “club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”
Trump, who took office in January, has since described U.S. funding as “peanuts” compared to the important work of the organization.
Read alsoUkraine Foreign Minister slams Russia's veto abuse at UNSCThe United States is the biggest UN contributor, providing 22 percent of its $5.4 billion biennial core budget and 28.5 percent of its $7.3 billion peacekeeping budget. The contributions are agreed on by the 193-member General Assembly.
Trump, Guterres, who also took office in January, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley are scheduled to speak at the Sept. 18 event, diplomats said.
The draft political declaration states: “We support the secretary-general in making concrete changes in the United Nations system to better align its work on humanitarian response, development and sustaining peace initiatives.”