Media

U.N. Secretary General: Trump’s Vision Of America First ‘Isn’t True’ [VIDEO]

Julia Nista General Assignment Reporter
Font Size:

Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres said that President Trump’s view of America First “isn’t true” in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday.

WATCH:

“He has seemed to take a very negative view of international institutions, multilateralism, global agreements, he’s pulled out of the Paris accords, he’s pulled out of U.S. funding of UNESCO. Do you think this is the United States turning its back on instututions like the U.N. that it created after World War II?” asked Zakaria.

“I think that there is a vision that is expressed in the sentence ‘America First.’ The vision that the interests of the American people are best protected by the U.S. itself,” responded U.N. Secretary General Guterres, “and that international organizations do not contribute much to it, and that the engagement of the United States in many of the global issues of today are less relevant for the interests of the American people.”

“I believe it’s not true. The U.S. is too big and too relevant to be able to think it alone,” Guterres continued.

The president said in a September speech to the U.N.:

In foreign affairs, we are renewing this founding principle of sovereignty.  Our government’s first duty is to its people, to our citizens — to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values.

As President of the United States, I will always put America first, just like you, as the leaders of your countries will always, and should always, put your countries first.

…The United States will forever be a great friend to the world, and especially to its allies.  But we can no longer be taken advantage of, or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return. As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interests above all else.

The president also noted that the United States pays “far more than anybody realizes” to the United Nations:

The United States is one out of 193 countries in the United Nations, and yet we pay 22 percent of the entire budget and more.  In fact, we pay far more than anybody realizes.  The United States bears an unfair cost burden, but, to be fair, if it could actually accomplish all of its stated goals, especially the goal of peace, this investment would easily be well worth it.

Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday that the U.S. doesn’t “need other countries telling us what’s right and wrong.”

Follow Julia Nista on Twitter