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Trump to Launch Initiative to ‘Reform’ UN | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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US President Donald Trump. (AFP)


New York – US President Donald Trump plans to benefit from the presence of state leaders attending the UN General Assembly meetings in New York on September 18 to push for reform of the global body, in line with previous promises he had pledged during his presidential campaign.

Trump is expected to ask world leaders who will meet on the eve of the official launch of the UN General Assembly meetings, to support his 10-point political declaration to back UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “in making concrete changes to the United Nations,” according to the document obtained by AFP this week.

The US president had described the global body during his presidential campaign as a “club” for people “to have a good time.”

In order to push forward for those reforms, the US has already received the support of 14 states including, Britain, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Slovakia, Thailand and Uruguay.

Attending his first UN gathering of world leaders, Trump is scheduled to address the Assembly on September 19 on the first day of the six-day debate.

The 14 countries supporting Trump’s declaration will also attend the event at the UN headquarters in New York, where Guterres and US Ambassador Nikki Haley would also deliver speeches.

Trump’s speech will likely be the most closely watched as Washington’s allies and foes grapple with the implications of his “America First” approach to foreign policy, AFP reported.

Separately, Trump announced on Saturday that he plans to appoint James Bridenstine, a former navy pilot and Republican congressman, to head the US space agency NASA.

Bridenstine, 42, backed Trump during the US presidential campaign, and has long been considered the favorite for the position of NASA administrator.