The Secretary General of the United Nations assured Wednesday that he was ready to work “constructively” with the American president-elect, Donald Trump, despite the risks of a remake of his first mandate, marked by attacks against the UN and cuts budgetary.
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“Cooperation between the United States and the United Nations is an essential pillar of international relations,” commented Antonio Guterres, congratulating Donald Trump on his victory.
And “the United Nations stands ready to work constructively with the next administration to confront the dramatic challenges of our world.”
Antonio Guterres arrived at the head of the UN when Donald Trump entered the White House in January 2017.
He then had to face an American policy favoring unilateralism, forcing him to work to limit the cuts made by Washington to multilateral cooperation, the driving force of the UN.
A rather successful attempt, according to observers who believe that the secretary general allowed the United Nations to survive four years of Trump.
Four years during which the United States reduced its financial contributions to the budget of UN peacekeeping operations and also to key UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization.
“The partnership between the WHO and America is vital, and has greatly improved the health of both Americans and populations around the world,” WHO boss Tedros Adhanom insisted. Ghebreyesus.
“I think Guterres and his team have been preparing and planning for Trump’s return for some time. They expect that the United States will rather drastically reduce its funding to many parts of the UN,” Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP, while the United Nations is already facing a budgetary crisis.
Some observers are particularly concerned about funding for programs linked to reproductive rights.
“Violently anti-UN”
During Donald Trump’s first term, the United States also left UNESCO and the Paris Climate Agreement, while the fight against global warming is a priority for Antonio Guterres.
“The fact that they had differences of opinion on a certain number of subjects was clear to everyone,” noted Wednesday the spokesperson for the Secretary General Stéphane Dujarric, however describing “very good relations” between Antonio Guterres and President Trump.
But in four years, the world has changed, particularly during this last year marked by the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East.
The Secretary General does not mince his words to warn of the “nightmare” of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip ravaged by Israeli reprisals after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023 – which he also denounced.
Due to these criticisms of Israel, “many members of the Republican Party in Congress are violently anti-UN”, and it will thus be “more difficult” for Antonio Guterres “to manage his relations with Washington”, estimates Richard Gowan.
While Israel continues to attack the UN and its leader, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon congratulated the winner of the presidential election, seeing him as an ally for his country also at the United Nations.
“Israel and the United States share the same values, the same future, the same enemies,” he said in a video posted on X.
“I have confidence that President Trump and his team will continue to stand with Israel at the United Nations, against the hypocrisy and hatred we face in this building,” he added. .
It remains to be seen who Donald Trump will choose to represent the United States at the UN.
During his first term, he first appointed Nikki Haley, who was noted for her outspokenness before resigning. She later became his rival during the Republican primaries.
