Trump sees ‘great promise’ in UN, says his pick for ambassador

NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump “sees great promise in the United Nations if it focuses on its founding mission of international peace and security”, his nominee to be ambassador told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan 21.

Ms Elise Stefanik, a member of the House of Representatives, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate as ambassador to the 193-member world body, a position that will be part of Mr Trump’s Cabinet for his second term in office, which began on Jan 20.

“If confirmed, I will work to ensure that our mission to the United Nations serves the interests of the American people and represents President Trump’s America First peace-through-strength foreign policy,” she said.

Ms Stefanik took a traditional US approach to the UN role, pledging to seek reform of the world body and its agencies and combat what Washington describes as anti-Israel bias and growing Chinese influence within the United Nations and globally.

“This is a long-term strategy that they have at the United Nations, and we need to have strong American leadership working with our allies to push back on this,” she said of China.

The Senate committee’s questioning of Ms Stefanik came after Mr Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance pending assessments of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy.

The move raised questions because the US Congress sets the federal government budget.

US foreign assistance can range from military and economic to humanitarian aid.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons voiced concern with Ms Stefanik, noting that Mr Trump’s order does not clarify the scope of development assistance.

Mr Coons asked whether it would include contributions to the UN World Food Programme, UN children’s agency Unicef or support for countries like Ukraine and Jordan.

“I hope where there are obvious partnerships that do advance American national interests that they will move forward quickly,” Mr Coons said.

Ms Stefanik earlier referred to the order “regarding all of foreign aid”. She said she was committed to ensuring that all US funding for programmes at the UN was reviewed.

“We need to look at all of our programmes, do an assessment of: Do they answer the questions of does it make America stronger, safer, more prosperous? That should be our guiding light and America First peace through strength,” she said.

Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Jan 21 that it was unclear what effect a pause in US assistance would have on UN agencies.

Foreign assistance accounts for only about 1 per cent of the total US budget, with Israel long the country that receives the most and Ukraine a major recipient more recently as it combats a Russian invasion.

It was not immediately clear how much money would be affected by Mr Trump’s executive order.

For the fiscal year that ended on Sept 30, 2022 – the most recent data available – the US obligated about US$70.3 billion (S$95.2 billion) in foreign assistance.

The executive order echoes a return to the approach Mr Trump took during his first term in office between 2017 and 2021.

He first came to power proposing to cut about a third off US diplomacy and aid budgets, which included steep reductions in funding for UN peacekeeping and international organisations. But Congress pushed back on his proposals.

During his first day in office on Jan 20, Mr Trump withdrew the US from the World Health Organisation and from the Paris climate deal, for a second time.

Once confirmed, Ms Stefanik will succeed former president Joe Biden’s UN ambassador, Ms Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year veteran of the US Foreign Service who served on four continents, most notably in Africa.

Ms Stefanik will arrive at UN headquarters in New York with a large US debt. Washington is the UN’s largest contributor – followed by China – accounting for 22 per cent of the core UN budget and 27 per cent of the peacekeeping budget.

Mr Haq said the US currently owes a total of US$2.8 billion, of which US$1.5 billion is for the regular budget. These payments are not voluntary.

A country can be up to two years in arrears before facing the possible repercussion of losing its General Assembly vote.

Mr Haq said Washington was “not especially close right now” to losing its vote. REUTERS