By J.P. Sottile
President Trump opened
his big United Nations week … and his famous mouth … with a predictable plug
for one of his properties and some playful
glad-handing with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Trump also scolded
the U.N.’s unwieldy scrum for “not living up to its potential.” He made a
passing reference to the U.N.’s wasteful use of American money. And he called
for “reform” of the much-maligned
international forum.
It was a stolid prelude to
what will no doubt be “must-see” TV when he speaks to the UN General
Assembly on Tuesday about North Korea and Iran. And it was a far cry
from the way America’s leading “America Firster” spent the campaign lamenting how
unfair the U.N. is to the poor schlemiel we call Uncle Sam.
He is likely to use
his speech to throw a little bit of that same red meat to his base, but his
call for reform falls well short of what his supporters
want … which is an abrupt end of U.S. involvement in the
international body. They are motivated by a grab-bag of reasons that point to
the U.N. being a threat to their guns, their bank accounts and their God-given
freedom.
