Trump threatens to cut aid to U.N. members over Jerusalem vote

Haley and Trump are correct on the logic. Why should a country get American protection and support when they don't adhere to American interests?

But you lose all leverage if you have an open tantrum about it.

Do as I say or else!! America the 19th century called. Kindly return the monroe doctrine.

"If you're not with us, you're against us"

That worked out last time didn't it?

Good to see the president standing against globalist anti-Semitism.

"If you're not with us, you're against us"

That worked out last time didn't it?

Except Trump might be crazy enough to follow through with what that means - withdrawing the U.S. from NATO and other international organizations.

The US is going full-on great white rogue whale, with its president as the poster boy.

We don't care," Trump told reporters 

He's full of it. Anybody think he'd cut off aid to his Saudi friends?

More hot air from a stupid, stupid man.

The US steps back and China steps forward into the vacuum.

Not sure that is a good thing for all of us, but it is the reality today.

We'll save a lot. We don't care

Perhaps, but what would be the result? For example, Egypt receives about $1.6 billion in aid from the US. Most of that is military aid ($1.3 billion). Egypt imports about $2.2billion in military goods from the USA. The USA runs a trade surplus with Egypt of about $2billion. I suspect some in the USA will care a lot.

@albaleo Perhaps, but what would be the result?

Excellent question. Trump probably hasn't cleared this with the war industries.

Why doesn't Trump just make the USA quit the UN ? It would be far quicker and efficient. And maybe better for all of us.

Good for Trump!  He's got chutzpah!  The UN is nothing more than an anti-U.S. bully pulpit and ineffective, impotent organization.  The U.S. should cut off financial aid to any country that does not support its agenda or goals, withdraw from the UN and move them out of the U.S.  Let China or Russia host the new UN.

Except Trump might be crazy enough to follow through with what that means - withdrawing the U.S. from NATO and other international organizations.

If those organizations don't support the U.S agendas, why not?  China or Russia don't support its political adversaries.

Another swamp that needs draining is the UN.

Finally a President that is standing up to the anti-Semitic goons and thugs that run the General Assembly

FYI, the definition of the UN from wikipedia:

"The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international cooperation and to create and maintain international order."

Therefore not created to be at the service of the USA.

Smoked the U.N. like a slab of ribs. Lol

"If you're not with us, you're against us"

That worked out last time didn't it?

Yeah, well the previous president Also said, we are not a war with Islam and when we show it, they’ll accept us with open arms, that didn’t work out at all either, in fact, if didn’t do anything but kept things the same.

Foreign aid is used to help US policy overseas. It says so right on their website.

We would just be hurting ourselves, and all for an emotional response based on incorrect information.

"The US will be taking names," says Nikki Haley.

Haley sounds like Cartman from "South Park": "Respect my authoritah".

Here's a tip for Haley: to avoid writer's cramp, just take down the names of the countries opposing the resolution. It will be a lot quicker and the list will be a lot shorter.

Shake..Rattle...and Roll...baby

The UN is just a place for people to meet and have nice steak dinners. Their Resolutions are toothless and it used like Tonka toy by incoming and outgoing Presidents. They lost all credibility with Collin Powels "Iraq" circus.

"The international community, together with nations in Africa, must bear its share of responsibility fro this tragedy," then U.S. President Bill Clinton said in a 1998 tour to Rwanda. "We did not act quickly enough after the killing began. We should not have allowed the refugee camps to become safe havens for the killers. We did not immediately call these crimes by their rightful name: genocide."

.

"The tragedy of Srebrenica will haunt our history forever," then Secretary-General Kofi Annan wrote in a 1999 review of the U.N.’s failure to protect the people of Srebrenica. "Through error, misjudgment and inability to recognize the scope of evil confronting us, we failed to do our part to save the people of Srebrenica."

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Resolution 687 of 1991, known to U.N. diplomats as the Mother of All Resolutions, set the terms of Hussein’s military defeat in the first Gulf War and required he destroy the country’s weapons of mass destruction. (A decade later, the U.S. and Britain cited Iraq’s alleged violation of this resolution as the legal justification for their overthrow of Saddam Hussein, against the objections of other council members.)

Meanwhile, CNN was doing the bidding of the CIA with their "babies being thrown out of incubators" lie that had the whole world trapped in lies and violence.

"The US will be taking names," says Nikki Haley.

I love this woman!

Haley sounds like Cartman from "South Park": "Respect my authoritah".

But way better looking.

Here's a tip for Haley: to avoid writer's cramp, just take down the names of the countries opposing the resolution. It will be a lot quicker and the list will be a lot shorter.

Naw, I prefer her blasting them. It’s like giving these countries a deep cleansing, so greatly needed.

After thought...

i know the UN does some good and great things, but they should stay out of politics and just stick to things like stopping human trafficking or helping feed and care for famine or war victims. They've been pretty spot on with what's going on in Yemen. CNN, not so much.

Recently, I see more dignity in Chinese government and their staffs than those of US.

"They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we're watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump would have a point IF those 'hundreds of millions or even billions of $' were 100% disinterested generosity, but they aren't. These aren't donations but rather investments to strengthen us political position in regions/countries, get more contracts etc. No 'aid/investments' to those countries means no ROI, financial and political. Not sure Trump would risk it over what's essentially a purely symbolic gesture (i.e. Jerusalem as Israel's capital). He's no philanthropist after all.

We don't care

I think many Trump voters just heard that and liked how tough it sounded. What he doesn’t care about isn’t really important.

I'd ask the supporters of the Israeli regime to answer the question someone else posted .

"Why should a country be supported when it doesn't act in America's interests?"

The Israeli regime (and the Saud crime family) definitely aren't acting in America's interests, unless you are willing to admit America's interests are corruption, racism, and war.

The Israeli regime (and the Saud crime family) definitely aren't acting in America's interests, unless you are willing to admit America's interests are corruption, racism, and war.

Sounds about right to me. But please try to separate what the AIPAC people pay for with the rest of us. Last I looked, Myanmar is the only country celebrating true democracy.

I just used the 'contact us' page at the US mission to the UN website to ask Haley to add my name to the list in case my government is too cowardly to vote to condemn Trump's appeasement policy.

Just takes a minute, so feel free to do so, too.

I went to the same page to add my congratulations to Ms Haley.

Just takes a minute, so feel free to do so, too.

Nice to hear it from President Trump.

I think many Trump voters just heard that and liked how tough it sounded. What he doesn’t care about isn’t really important.

Add that to the list. All together now:

We don't care!

Drain the swamp!

Build the wall!

Lock her up!

U.S.A.!

I think many Trump voters just heard that and liked how tough it sounded.

In case you forgot, Trump won in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, beating Hillary because she "thought" she had loyalty. These are hardly the people to react to stupid sound bites nor agrresive rhetoric. You need to check yourself.

Great we are now terrorizing other countries if they don't vote the "party" line! Societies are NOT free to choose?? Trump and his totalitarian agenda has to be stopped!

Sadly, it doesn't surprise me. Trump's quest to isolate the US from the rest of the world is working out just fine. The threats, bellicose rhetoric and warnings are symptomatic of a person desperately out of control, in full tyrannical form.

"The U.S. will be taking names."

Don't tell him, Pike!

The more Trump carries on the more I'm seeing North Korea's point of view on how they view America.

Para Sitius - Interesting. Why don't you visit North Korea and explore their viewpoints in more detail?

It's on my to-do list.

Naw, I prefer her blasting them. It’s like giving these countries a deep cleansing, so greatly needed.

"cleansing" is a very inapproptiate word to use. There are UN countries that have suffered from ethnic cleansing/genocides in the past.

Haley is not being diplomatic and resorting to threats is not going to win the US back any respect for its shameful actions.

We would just be hurting ourselves. A vast majority of financial aid to foreign countries is done through US business, and it's usually tied to a policy that the US requires.

But, yes, the emotional group will be happy because it just sounds good when you don't know the details. Such is Trump's America.

I think many Trump voters just heard that and liked how tough it sounded. 

In case you forgot, Trump won in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, beating Hillary because she "thought" she had loyalty. These are hardly the people to react to stupid sound bites nor agrresive rhetoric. You need to check yourself.

No, I don’t. That’s why I used the word ‘many’ and not ‘all’.

I work with a very bright Trump voter. He’s not a crackpot, a racist or an idiot but I’d say Trump got the lion’s share of crackpots, racists and idiots last November.

Why should the U.S. continue to agree to fund 22% of the U.N. budget? The U.S. doesn't require U.N. protection, or it's welfare. The U.N. was created to keep other nations from killing/conquering/destroying each other. Again. For the most part, U.N. participation has managed to make that happen.

The U.S. should lower it's contribution to 10%, or less. Let the current batch of anti-Jerusalem-as-Israel's-capital whiners make up the difference, or they could hold fewer dinners, parties, and junkets on the U.N. donations.

"As expected, United States of America contributes the highest with a share of 22%. USA’s GNP is approximately 27% of the total GNP of all the member countries of the UN and thus its highest share of contribution is justified.

Japan contributes the second highest with 9.68%, followed by China (7.921%), Germany (6.389%), France (4.859%) and UK (4.463%) in the top five. Brazil contributes about 3.823% and is 6th in this list."

https://factly.in/united-nations-budget-contributions-by-member-countries/

Withhold all UN donations full stop.

The United States provides the lion's share of donations to keep the cesspool running, and gets nothing out of it but insults.

One of which, by her long serving ally the UK. The UK vote was an embarrassment to the country, but we all know why they voted the way they did.

The UK vote was an embarrassment to the country, but we all know why they voted the way they did.

Do we? Enlighten us.

And while you're at it, can you explain why Japan, Iceland, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland etc. all voted the way they did, as well?

all of them losers when push comes to shove.

Soyboys.

Weak.

Many of them ruled by you know who.

Can you clarify what you mean by "soyboys" and how the countries I mentioned are weak.

Mention specifically the weakness country by country.

Which ones are "ruled" by "you know who"?

The UK vote was an embarrassment to the country, but we all know why they voted the way they did.

Do we? I've read intelligent, and I stress intelligent, arguments from the left and the right on this and none reduce it to a single issue. I know many on the left who voted Brexit, some in my own family.

Please enlighten us.

Why should the U.S. continue to agree to fund 22% of the U.N. budget?

Four of the countries you list (Japan, Germany, France, UK) have a combined population less than the USA yet contribute more than the USA. While that may not be a reason for the USA to continue paying 22%, it probably has some significance if the USA wants to continue to be seen as one of the big players.

Many of them ruled by you know who.

I'm glad that's cleared up. Please thank your dad. I was never read bed time stories that interesting.

Great we are now terrorizing other countries if they don't vote the "party" line! Societies are NOT free to choose??

They are, but then don’t ask us for money, then do what the heck you want, but if you want to act bold and bad as **** then take care of yourself.

Trump and his totalitarian agenda has to be stopped!

We said that 8 years ago and we still managed to survive and you guys will as well.

Sadly, it doesn't surprise me. Trump's quest to isolate the US from the rest of the world is working out just fine. The threats, bellicose rhetoric and warnings are symptomatic of a person desperately out of control, in full tyrannical form.

No, the man is thankfully not a globalist and if that makes him tyrannical for being an isolationist, then I think it’s a compliment.

Haley is not being diplomatic and resorting to threats is not going to win the US back any respect for its shameful actions.

If Haley runs, she’s got my vote 10 fold! Love that woman. She’s like the Sigourney Weaver of politics.

If Haley runs, she’s got my vote 10 fold! Love that woman.

Some might say you're a bit of soft touch, bass.

All Americans should be embarrassed at the juvenile actions of this terrible woman.

Standing up and screaming "We wil get even!" is not a diplomatic action likely to produce positive results.

@albaleo - not sure where you get your numbers but contributions to the UN are as follows

US 1.2 billion Japan 244 million Germany 161.1 million France 122.5 million UK 112.5 million

I also agree that the U.S. response was not diplomatically appropriate

@Tokyo-Engr

I was just using the numbers in arrestpaul's post above. Where are your numbers from? The link below gives a quite different figure for the USA (that is for 2015). I think there is a distinction between the "regular" budget and some other budget. I'm not sure of the significance.

http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=ST/ADM/SER.B/910

I'm also interested in how these funds are used. Is it mainly for staffing? The USA seems to have the largest number of UN employees. (I can't find data on whether they also get the largest salaries. You can probably see how my mind's working.)

https://www.unsystem.org/content/hr-nationality

Hi albaleo

Here are a few links

Broken down by percentage (https://factly.in/united-nations-budget-contributions-by-member-countries/)

Actual dollars (http://www.un.org/en/ga/contributions/honourroll.shtml)

Here is the Politifact fact check on the percentage (http://www.politifact.com/global-news/statements/2017/feb/01/rob-portman/us-contribution-un-22-percent/)

The politifact article gives the 1.2 billion figure - Politifact is scarcely supportive of Trump

Anyway that is the deal....

As far as how the funds are used the UN has some data but not always completely transparent.

No, the man is thankfully not a globalist and if that makes him tyrannical for being an isolationist, then I think it’s a compliment.

Globaliam has driven the markets higher. Anyone that claims to invest knows that globalism is beneficial to their portfolio.

Standing up and screaming "We wil get even!" is not a diplomatic action likely to produce positive results.

Bring back Samantha Power!

The UN has become nothing but a dumpster fire fueled by U.S. money. 

The simple fact that dictators from countries with some of the worst ongoing human rights abuses are allowed to sit in and pass judgment on any other country is the cruelest joke ever foisted on the people of the world.

Anyone who believes the UN has a purpose in the 21st century is lying to themselves. . . .

Texas.

Riddle me this why the USA hasn't left the troublesome UN already, nor given up their seat in the UNSC and veto right already?

I know why, better ask your own Government. ;)

Forgot to add it ain't policy but monetary.

Yeah that drives your government not democracy.

BTW, similar to my own government, hence why we want a 'direct government' where citizens are polled prior to government taking actions on their own.

We got close once before as government proposed a damn that would flood our capital.

Demos in the affected area(2 demonstrators got removed during due to self-induced insures, and we had government supplied food and shelters) resulted in a cancel.

Yes, citizens have power, we also rejeected a nuclear power even after a plant was build(sold it to Russia).

Still nuclear free.

Let the. People decide not the electorate.