US President Donald Trump called himself the savior of the United Nations, which is threatened by financial collapse, praising his ability to force members to pay unpaid contributions. He said this in a brief phone conversation with Politico, UNN writes.
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But in a Sunday interview, he declined to say whether the United States would be able to repay the billions of dollars it owes the international organization.
Speaking from Florida, Trump said he was unaware that the US was behind on its UN obligations, but he was confident he could "very easily solve the problem" and make other countries pay - if only the UN asked.
"If they came to Trump and told him, I would make everyone pay, just like I made NATO pay," he said, referring to himself in the third person. "All I have to do is call these countries… they'll send checks within minutes."
Trump's comments came after a report in The New York Times that senior UN officials warned the organization might be forced to cut back on its activities - or even close its New York headquarters - if it ran out of funds.
Trump immediately dismissed the idea.
"I don't think that's appropriate. The UN is not leaving New York and is not leaving the United States, because the UN has enormous potential," Trump said, taking a defensive stance on an institution he has often criticized.
The UN declined to comment on Trump's Sunday remarks.
Trump's remarks are notable for a president who leans into the "America First" doctrine, and in the past month has seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, threatened to strike Iran, and sought to take Greenland from Danish control, the publication writes.
Trump has also withdrawn from numerous multilateral institutions during both his first and second terms. Most recently, in January, he signed an executive order to withdraw the US from 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, including the UN Population Fund and a UN treaty establishing international climate negotiations.
Last year, the Trump administration cut hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid and eliminated USAID, and regularly portrayed international organizations as tools through which other countries could take advantage of the United States.
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Against this backdrop, Trump's defense of the United Nations - at least in principle - is striking, the publication notes.
While he insisted that the organization had not fulfilled its promise, he presented it as an institution that remains indispensable, especially given that his own role on the world stage will eventually end.
"When I'm no longer there to settle wars, the UN can do it," he said, acknowledging that he won't always be the one intervening in global conflicts. "It has enormous potential. Enormous."