Trump: UN a club for people to have good time

President-elect Donald Trump AP File Photo

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida—Days after the United Nations voted to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Donald Trump questioned its effectiveness on Monday, saying it’s just a club for people to “have a good time.”

The president-elect wrote on Twitter that the United Nations had “such great potential,” but it had become “just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!”

Trump’s criticism of the United Nations followed that of the Philippines’ President Duterte, who on Friday ranted against the world body whose officials, he said, were just “sitting on their asses” and had little knowledge of international law.

Mr. Duterte fumed at the UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, who had called on Philippine law enforcement authorities to investigate him after he boasted that he killed people to set an example for police when he was mayor of Davao City.

He called Zeid a “fool” and “stupid.”

Different after Jan. 20

On Friday, Trump warned, “As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th,” referring to the day he takes office.

The decision by the Obama administration to abstain from Friday’s UN vote brushed aside Trump’s demands that the United States exercise its veto and provided a climax to years of icy relations with Israel’s leadership.

Trump told The Associated Press (AP) last December that he wanted to be “very neutral” on Israel-Palestinian issues.

But his tone became decidedly more pro-Israel as the presidential campaign progressed. He has spoken disparagingly of Palestinians, saying they have been “taken over” by or are condoning militant groups.

UN work

Trump’s tweet about the United Nations ignores much of the work that goes on in the 193-member global organization.

This year the UN Security Council has approved more than 70 legally binding resolutions, including new sanctions on North Korea and measures tackling conflicts and authorizing the United Nations’ far-flung peacekeeping operations around the world.

The General Assembly has also approved dozens of resolutions on issues, like the role of diamonds in fueling conflicts; condemned human rights abuses in Iran and North Korea, and authorized an investigation of alleged war crimes in Syria.

Trump’s criticism of the United Nations is by no means unique.

While the organization does engage in large-scale humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts, its massive bureaucracy has long been a source of controversy.

The organization has been accused by some Western governments of being inefficient and frivolous, while developing nations have said it is overly influenced by wealthier nations.

Gloomy world

Trump tweeted later: “The world was gloomy before I won—there was no hope. Now the market is up nearly 10 percent and Christmas spending is over a trillion dollars!”

Markets are up since Trump won the general election, though not quite by that much.

Standard & Poor’s 500 is up about 6 percent since Election Day, while the Dow has risen more than 8 percent.

As for holiday spending, auditing and accounting firm Deloitte projected in September that total 2016 holiday sales were expected to exceed $1 trillion, representing a 3.6 percent to 4.0 percent increase in holiday sales from November through January. —AP