Cue the world’s smallest violin. Member states at the United Nations are delinquent on their payments to the body, and as a result, it is contemplating cutting expenses. Leah Barkoukis reports at Townhall.com:

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is sounding the alarm to members about the world body’s “troubling financial situation,” urging them to pay up.

“Our cash flow has never been this low so early in the calendar year, and the broader trend is also concerning; we are running out of cash sooner and staying in the red longer,” he said in a letter to staff, reports FoxNews.com. 

Guterres went on to say that the organization will be taking measures to look at reducing costs, in a way that won’t affect their mission. He said he also will be proposing to states various steps to strengthen financial stability at the U.N. 

Why the UN is spending money that doesn’t affect its mission is a question that deserves, but will not receive, consideration by the UN’s management.

Needless to say, even though the United States is paying up, and accounts for almost a quarter of the revenue the UN receives, President Trump is being blamed by an anonymous source cited in the article.

(Source: CNN)

One former U.S. diplomat at the U.N. suggested other member states may be dragging their feet on payments over the perception that the U.S. has backed away from its commitments.  

“A look at the record shows that Trump has continued to fund it at historic levels, chose it to sanction North Korea, and uses it as a platform to defend Israel. However, there is a wide misperception fed by Trump detractors and a combative media that his Administration has walked away from the U.N.,” Hugh Dugan told FoxNews.com.

 “Other countries mimic the U.S., and what they hear has led them to go slow on support and check writing,” he added.

It’s always Trump’s fault!

An old friend of mine recently retired after a long career at the UN, and over the years in no uncertain terms denounced it as corrupt, ineffective, and generally pointless. But the tax-free income enjoyed in New York City was just great!