On Wednesday, President Trump threatened to cut off financial aid to UN member countries that vote in favor of a draft resolution that demands the United States withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” the president told reporters.
As Reuters explains:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
The 193-member UN General Assembly will hold a rare emergency special session on Thursday – at the request of Arab and Muslim countries – to vote on a draft resolution, which the United States vetoed on Monday in the 15-member UN Security Council.
The remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favour of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the United States or Trump but which expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, in a letter to dozens of UN states on Tuesday seen by Reuters, warned that Trump had asked her to “report back on those countries who voted against us.”
“The U.S. will be taking names,” Haley said in a tweet.
Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, accused the president of bullying and blackmail, writing in a tweet:
Our government should not use its leadership at the UN to bully/blackmail other nations that stand for religious liberty and justice in Jerusalem. Justice is a core value of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Miroslav Lajcak, president of the General Assembly, didn’t comment on Trump’s remarks, but said: “It’s the right and responsibility of member states to express their views.”
And it’s the right and the responsibility of the U.S. president to express his views and the views of many Americans.
Some on social media appreciated Trump’s statement:
There are moments, like this one, that I actually appreciate having Donald Trump as President. They're few. But they exist. https://t.co/mkpVRwDDAw
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) December 20, 2017
Brilliant. https://t.co/0VmQcQkSz5
— Conrad Black (@ConradMBlack) December 20, 2017
Trump also expressed support for Haley’s comments:
I like the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations, for all those nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council, or they vote against us potentially at the assembly.
Earlier this month, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that outraged Israel’s enemies and raised concern among Washington’s Western allies, Reuters said, adding:
According to figures from the U.S. government’s aid agency USAID, in 2016 the United States provided some $13 billion in economic and military assistance to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and $1.6 billion to states in East Asia and Oceania.
It provided some $13 billion to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, $6.7 billion to countries in South and Central Asia, $1.5 billion to states in Europe and Eurasia and $2.2 billion to Western Hemisphere countries, according to USAID.
That could add up to over $37 billion in taxpayer savings if Trump follows through.
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