Trump admin seeks a leaner United Nations

WASHINGTON: The Trump Administration is pushing for a leaner and more focused United Nations, with its top diplomat to the world body, Mike Waltz, telling lawmakers that the organisation must return to its core mission of maintaining peace and security.

Testifying before lawmakers at a congressional hearing in New York, Waltz defended the administration's effort to overhaul the UN, arguing that decades of expansion have not delivered proportional results. "The UN truly does need to get what we're calling back to basics," he said, adding that it must return "to its original mission from its founding back to maintaining international peace and security".

He pointed to a sharp rise in spending, noting that "the UN's budget in the last 25 years has quadrupled" without a corresponding improvement in global stability. "We haven't seen arguably a quadrupling of peace and security around the world commensurate with those hard-earned dollars."