On Monday, President Trump opened his first-ever remarks as president to the United Nations General Assembly with a shout out to one of his luxury properties. "I actually saw great potential right across the street, to be honest with you, and it was only for the reason that the United Nations was here that that turned out to be such a successful project," Trump said about Trump World Tower, immediately after thanking the world leaders and diplomats gathered for the annual week-long summit in New York City.
USA Today noted that Saudi Arabia bought the Tower's 45th floor, and "turned those into part of the Saudi Mission to the United Nations."
After that, Trump turned to talking about the reforms he believes are needed at the organization he once criticized as a "club for people to get together, talk, and have a good time." "[I]n recent years, the United Nations has not reached its full potential because of bureaucracy and mismanagement," Trump said, warning that he's "not seeing results in line with this investment" made by America. He proceeded to outline plans for reform, including "clearly defined goals and metrics" for "every peacekeeping mission" and a bigger focus on "results rather than on process."
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As he'd walked in Monday morning, he'd proclaimed that "this will be a great week." Trump is slated to give a speech Tuesday, and later in the week he will meet with other world leaders.