UNITED NATIONS, April 21 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday had its first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time since he took over as the world body’s chief on January 1, a U.N. spokesman said.
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said they met for 15-20 minutes at the White House in Washington along with U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster at the White House and had a good discussion on U.S.-U.N. cooperation.
“The secretary-general and the president agreed to meet again in the near future,” he said, “calling it an important relationship.”
Dujarric, who does not hold favourable views about the United Nation, said he was pleased that U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is taking the Security Council to Washington on Monday where members will also meet the president. The United States is president of the 15-member council for April.
Trump has proposed a 28 percent budget cut for diplomacy and foreign aid, which includes an unspecified reduction in financial support for the United Nations and its agencies, as well as enforcement of a 25 percent cap on US funding for peacekeeping operations.
The United States is the biggest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core budget and 28.5 percent of the $7.9 billion peacekeeping budget. These are assessed contributions agreed by the U.N. General Assembly.
The United States currently owes the United Nations $896 million for its core budget, U.N. officials said. The United States is also reviewing peacekeeping missions as their mandates come up for renewal in a bid to cut costs.