Trump puts his U.N. money where his mouth is

"Ever encounter a panhandler, and, motivated by kindness, hand over a dollar? Only to have the beggar berate you for not giving more? That's the situation the United States finds itself in with the United Nations.

President Trump's not-so-subtle threat to remember which nations voted to condemn his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was the ultimate case of speaking truth to power.

The largest – by far – donor to the United Nations, and a provider of foreign aid to dozens of other U.N. member states, America holds a unique, though decidedly not privileged position in the so-called world body.

Yet for decades, it has been stymied by its rivals (China and Russia), by rogue regimes (Iran), and by a U.N. leadership that views America as a source of demonic, not democratic values.

Well and good. But why, then, should the U.S. continue to ante up 22 percent of the U.N.'s budget, and fully 28 percent of its peacekeeping effort?...

Of course, the U.N. is a toothless, almost furless tiger. Its resolutions of outrage and disapproval count for precisely nothing. Trump is not the first president to speak aloud about the ingratitude of the U.N. He may, however, be the first to do something about it."