Heres how Elise Stefanik can put Trumps America First agenda to work at the UN
The screams you heard emanating from Turtle Bay earlier this week were foreign diplomats learning that President-elect Donald Trump would appoint Rep.Elise Stefanik to be his ambassador to the United Nations.If anyone can fight back against the anti-Americanism and antisemitism inside the UN system, it’s Stefanik (R-NY).Her first stop will be the UN Security Council.
As a permanent member, the United States holds both a veto and the power to convene.Stefanik should use them in ways the Biden administration never did.The Biden team lived in fear of wielding America’s veto, viewing its deployment as a failure of diplomacy, and searched instead for compromises that diluted his own administration’s policy positions.That put the United States on defense while Russia and China — unafraid to use their own veto powers whenever needed — went on offense.In a cesspool of anti-American actors searching for any angle to harm our country, Stefanik should be unafraid to use every tool to fight back.That starts with a firm backstop — letting adversaries know the United States will be unflinching in its use of the veto — but continues by waging an offensive campaign against those adversaries.With the power to convene and introduce resolutions, both Trump and Sen.Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), reportedly his pick for secretary of state, should view Stefanik as their tip of the spear in political warfare against America’s enemies.No month should pass without the council shining a light on the illicit conduct of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and their key partners in chaos.
China and Russia should be forced to veto resolutions defending their own malign activities and those of their clients and allies.For example, instead of waiting for yet another anti-Israel resolution to come before the council for a US veto, Stefanik might force a vote on the UN designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization.Let Beijing and Moscow openly defend a brutal terrorist group by using their ...