UN Facing Worst Nightmare: Trump to Personally Chair UN Security Council Meeting
There is little question that President Donald Trump is not a huge fan of the United Nations, and it goes without saying that the feeling is quite mutual among many of the members of that international body.
Trump has repeatedly called out the U.N. for its failures and mistakes, as well as its persistent anti-American and anti-Israel agendas. He has already cut U.S. funding of the U.N. and vows to do more, as American taxpayers shouldn’t be funding things that are against this nation’s interest.
The feelings of animus between Trump and the U.N. could come to head later this month as the president is set to chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 26, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Trump had already planned to be in New York in attendance at the General Assembly meeting with other world leaders during that time.
The “presidency” of the Security Council rotates among member nations on a monthly basis and September is the month that will see U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley take command of the council’s meetings.
The announcement that Trump will chair a meeting of the Security Council came from Haley herself, and while she noted that Trump would not be seeking any specific resolutions or official statements from the body, he intended to focus the discussion on the topic of Iran and their numerous “violations of international law” in regard to their interventionist policies in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and other regional nations.
It is hoped that Trump will be able to garner additional support from the U.N. for bringing further political pressure and economic isolation against Iran and elevate concerns about the Islamic Republic to a greater level among the Security Council and General Assembly, which far too often ignore Iran in favor of focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other regional issues.
It should be noted that while most of the Security Council members opposed Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, they nevertheless agree that Iran is a destabilizing force in the Middle East and that Iran’s ballistic missile program is a cause for concern.
Trump’s discussion of Iran while chairing the Security Council meeting may not be a one-sided affair, however, as U.N. rules allow for the leader of a nation that is the subject of discussion to take part in the conversation on its own behalf. That means that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been invited to attend and participate in the meeting if he wishes to do so, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Iran has not commented publicly on Haley’s statements about Trump chairing the Security Council meeting, and Iranian presidents have historically avoided coming face to face with U.S. presidents at the U.N., The Journal reported, so it is unclear if Rouhani will attend the meeting.
Aside from Iran, Trump is also expected to discuss counternarcotics efforts while speaking with the Security Council, and Haley herself — who has made her own mark on the world body during her time as U.S. ambassador there — has a host of issues she plans to discuss while she is chairing council meetings throughout the month.
Some of the issues Haley intends to bring up include how global corruption can lead to conflicts, the deteriorating situation in Venezuela and the current state of the Syrian civil war, both in terms of the potential for future chemical weapons attacks and a planned offensive on the last remaining rebel stronghold in Idlib by the Syrian government, which is supported by Russia and Iran.
Other issues that aren’t on Haley’s agenda for September but could nevertheless still come up is the alleged genocide of a Muslim minority at the hands of the Myanmar military and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, according to The Journal.
Haley has specifically called out China and Russia for blocking a U.N. report that details how North Korea — allegedly with the aid of China and Russia, among others — has skirted around and violated international economic sanctions on the rogue regime.
It will be interesting to see how Trump’s chairing of a U.N. Security Council meeting will go, though we already know the liberal media will decry it before it even begins and attempt to paint a picture of a leader outside of his depth who has no business being on the world stage.
But Trump’s supporters are confident that Trump will handle the meeting just fine on his own end, and will likely emerge having gained what he set out to achieve — a greater level of support among the international community for pressuring Iran into comporting themselves better in the Middle East and around the globe.
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