By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump “sees great promise in the United Nations if it focuses on its founding mission of international peace and security,” his nominee to be ambassador told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
Elise Stefanik, a member of the House of Representatives, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate as ambassador to the 193-member world body, a position that will be part of Trump’s cabinet for his second term in office, which began on Monday.
“If confirmed, I will work to ensure that our mission to the United Nations serves the interests of the American people and represents President Trump’s America First peace-through-strength foreign policy,” she said.
Stefanik took a traditional U.S. approach to the U.N. role, pledging to seek reform of the world body and its agencies and combat what Washington describes as anti-Israel bias and growing Chinese influence within the United Nations and globally.
“This is a long-term strategy that they have at the United Nations, and we need to have strong American leadership working with our allies to push back on this,” she said of China.
The Senate committee’s questioning of Stefanik came after Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance pending assessments of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy. The move raised questions because the U.S. Congress sets the federal government budget.
U.S. foreign assistance can range from military and economic to humanitarian aid.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons voiced concern with Stefanik, noting that the order doesn’t clarify the scope of development assistance. He asked whether it would include contributions to the U.N. World Food Program, U.N. children’s agency UNICEF or support for countries like Ukraine and Jordan.
“I hope where there are obvious partnerships that do advance American national interests that they will move forward quickly,” Coons said.
DO PROGRAMS “MAKE AMERICA STRONGER?”
Stefanik earlier referred to the order “regarding all of foreign aid.” She said she was committed to ensuring all U.S. funding for programs at the United Nations was reviewed.
“We need to look at all of our programs, do an assessment of: Do they answer the questions of does it make America stronger, safer, more prosperous? That should be our guiding light and America First peace through strength,” she said.
Deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Tuesday it was unclear what effect a pause in U.S. assistance would have on U.N. agencies.
Foreign assistance accounts for only about 1% of the total U.S. budget, with Israel long the country that receives the most and Ukraine a major recipient more recently as it combats a Russian invasion.
It was not immediately clear how much money would be affected by Trump’s executive order. For the fiscal year ended on Sept. 30, 2022 – the most recent data available – the U.S. obligated about $70.3 billion in foreign assistance.
The executive order echoes a return to the approach Trump took during his first term in office between 2017 and 2021.
He first came to power proposing to cut about a third off U.S. diplomacy and aid budgets, which included steep reductions in funding for U.N. peacekeeping and international organizations. But Congress pushed back on Trump’s proposals.
During his first day in office on Monday, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate deal, for a second time.
Once confirmed, Stefanik will succeed former President Joe Biden’s U.N. ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service who served on four continents, most notably in Africa.
Stefanik will arrive at U.N. headquarters in New York with a large U.S. debt. Washington is the U.N.’s largest contributor – followed by China – accounting for 22% of the core U.N. budget and 27% of the peacekeeping budget.
Haq said the U.S. currently owes a total of $2.8 billion, of which $1.5 billion is for the regular budget. These payments are not voluntary.
A country can be up to two years in arrears before facing the possible repercussion of losing its General Assembly vote. Haq said Washington was “not especially close right now” to losing its vote.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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