Conversation 603-004

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Yes, sir.

President Trump is dismayed by the undersized pleas of the cheering, clapping delegates following the United Nations vote on the Austria-Taiwan from the World Organization's bulletin on U.P.I.

Bulletin on AP.

The White House said today American support for the United Nations and some foreign aid allocations could be affected by what it described as a shocking spectacle.

on the UN General Assembly floor following the defeat of the administration to China policy.

In a hard-hitting but delayed reaction to the UN vote, admitting communist China to the organization but expelling Taiwan, Zegler, speaking for the president, said, the feeling is a shocking demonstration and undisguised glee that was shown by some of the delegates to the United Nations could have a detrimental effect.

He said the president

had observed on television, you know, and I said you would talk to people on the scene, the wild responses of some of the delegates following the vote and believes that the action on the part of some delegates is not worthy of an international forum.

So that's the way it's done.

Well, these are just a simple part of the, uh, I went to Roger's position.

When they came, they pressed me on, well, okay, after you've said that, Ron, let me ask you a simple question.

They said, does the president, is he going to support the, you know, cutting off the funds?

I said, the Secretary of State answered those questions and dealt with that yesterday.

He said, well, no, he didn't.

And then we went around that.

And I said, let me repeat again, it could have a detrimental effect.

Look at the Congress today, the statements that have been made.

We've received many telegrams and so forth.

And I'm saying that this could have a detrimental effect.

But as you know, the President has addressed the United Nations on two occasions.

He has often stated that he supports the United Nations.

We are not going to change our policies.

The President continues to support the United Nations.

He wants to see it succeed.

But his ability in getting support for the United Nations could be affected by this undistinguished action on the part of some delegation.

Did you get an idea of personal animosity?

Well, personal animosity.

See, I had to be very careful on that because I didn't want them to translate that into personal animosity against you.

And I felt them moving that way.

I said, he did not take it personally.

Oh, the foreign aid.

I said, it was also a mess with the foreign aid thing that some of the delegates represented countries to whom this nation had been very generous in terms of foreign aid.

I said, we fought for a matter of principle.

And I said, we recognize in a matter such as the China issue that there would be differences of opinion.

But we do not feel

It was worthy of this international forum for some delegates to act like they did a little bit around that way.

Then the guy asked me, well, do you expect those who you have been generous with to always support the United Nations?

I said, you didn't listen to me earlier.

I said, of course not.

We recognize there are differences of view here.

What we are referring to is that this display could affect.

All of that.

I'm sure you keep them all on the, I'm sure they all write that.

The way you did, the way you expressed it was exactly correct.

It is enough.

I support the United Nations.

I will continue to.

My ability to support it is maybe, could be seriously impaired by reason of the conduct of some of the delegates.

Not their votes.

That was the point of the video.

But the point is, this isn't their votes that are complaining about it.

But it's the conduct, the display of personal animosity, and so forth, part of the United States, by the conduct, by the... No, that's what I thought was respectable.

Well, don't you feel that this statement in itself, reflecting this view of the US government,

in itself will not have an effect of loss of support in the country and generate loss of support in the country toward the United Nations.

I said we'd be less than candid if we did not tell you and say to you that we noted this spectacle and we are telling you that we did note it and that we feel it could have an effect of deterioration.

So I answered that question by going that way.

But didn't Rodgers make the same point yesterday?

He didn't make the point about the conduct, but he did make the point about the vote, that there was an inability to get the stuff through the Congress was prepared.

He had something in there.

Yes, he did.

Right.

Yes, he did.

He said that he felt that he personally felt, the Secretary said, that the U.S. shared

contribution to the support of the United Nations had been too high and that the...

But didn't he also say that the congressional reaction was set before the vote?

Yes, he referred to the...

But the congressional reaction to this vote could impair...

If he has something in his statement, I think you will find something that they were...

that the Congress, he distinguished two different points.

That the Congress would pretend that the attitude of retaliation in Congress was one thing, and he made that point because of the vote.

And they said, is that your view?

He said, oh no, this is not my view.

We shouldn't do it that way.

Yes, he said, we do not intend to retaliate, which we said today, we're not going to change our policy.

But then he went on to say that the,

The contribution the United States is making to the United Nations could be affected by those in Congress who hold that view.

He made it.

Well, that's my point.

Well, that's the answer to the listener.

I can see.

Roger said it yesterday.

We're saying the same thing.

Now, that is as true as it can be.

I feel the same way.

Well, I'm just saying...

I think people were, frankly, let me say as far as the audience, I'll let you be the audience, saw that one and all that, they knew what the competition was that night.

The Lions.

The football game.

The Lions were looking at the football game.

A lot of them saw it on the news.

But...

Excuse me.

Go ahead.

I think that people were pretty, in this country, were pretty well conditioned

the fact that Taiwan would not maintain its seat, those who know what it's all about.

I think people are very supportive of your China initiative in terms of a feeling of security, in terms of someone is doing something to not let war happen and bring about peace.

Therefore, in today's public opinion, I don't think

this ouster of Taiwan will have an emotional impact on every gay guy.

It will, of course, on the right.

But as Al Haig and I were talking about, how many really vocal people are there in that area?

There's some, of course.

And also, where were they before the vote?

And where were they at other times in terms of

support of the president.

You mean the right?

Yes, sir.

Now, they're very vocal now.

Yeah, well, the only time they're, I guess they support us in the court, I think it's about the only time the right wing supports us.

They support us in the court, I think.

Right.

On the appointment.

But you're right.

This right wing outfit, the merge crowd.

That's right.

And frankly, the hard right, the human events crowd.

That's right.

But from the standpoint of Newslight, this is going to get a very big play with Fullerton on both wires.

I think we, I don't think this was the right thing to do because I think people who saw that and people who have a general impression about this wanted someone, something to be strong.

They wanted us to say something.

Okay, so we did that without saying we're going to cut off the funds or anything of that sort, but we said it was a shocking spectacle and undisguised glee and so forth.

Okay, that's out there.

I think there's going to be, you know, UN is going to go wild today.

All the people will be calling press conferences on funds.

But it kind of muddies the water and kind of diffuses the debate.

And it moves it away from simply, will the administration support the cutoff of funds or not?

Then I think this is all going to just simmer down very quickly within a matter of 48 hours.

And we'll be just right on the track we were before.

But I think our objective should be, and all of our actions,

Other than this, no, but this has been done, is to keep it off the front page.

Say nothing more.

I agree.

I think we're through with it now.

We're through with the issue, and I wouldn't be able to warrant it.

It's out.

It's done.

And all the China trip goes on this afternoon.

Everyone up in... That's why Henry doing this this afternoon is good.

It checkmates a couple things.

It puts the China position right into focus.

And once Henry does this this afternoon...

then he doesn't have to do anything else.

Because he won't be on the record.

Be there on the record, no tilling.

And there's no need.

No, we're not.

Well, they asked me, I went down and listened to their vote.

He said, well, I said, I'm not prepared to discuss with you this morning anything about Henry Strepp.

He had a two-hour breakfast with the Secretary of the Treasury.

Unless it could work in Greece.

Well, why are you so reticent to discuss Henry's trip to China?

Don't you feel that the American people in some way are interested in this?

I said, yes, I did.

But he didn't listen to me.

I said, I'm not prepared to discuss it at this time.

I said, you've been around this town long enough to know that when I say I won't discuss it at this time, I'm not saying I won't discuss it.

And everyone looked at him and said, yeah, I'll let the door open.

No, he just can't be irritated.

He just can't be irritated.

It's good that you're irritated though, Adam, sometimes, which I do.

Oh, absolutely.

Because if they feel that they can make him run at you, though.

Oh, absolutely.

Sure.

He's going to be on the trip anyway, you know.

I am going to be through, personally, every name.

I'm going to give you the recommendations.

It's kind of my stress.

When I get through with that list, it's going to be the best God that list has ever gone anyplace.

Yeah.

And the wires.

I'm very pleased with them.

Well, it's as much as we can get.

It's far more than we expected.

But what is least in our interest is to have the likes of the Whistler and the rest

Let me say that the point is, the specials are not of any interest.

They poison the wires.

We're going to play the tolling, we're going to play the wires.

I haven't decided yet whether I'll have any of these things.

It probably won't, but it's going to be tough.

And we're all going to be like you, totally independent.

Right?

That's what I'm just going to do.

And I will do it for you.

For example, the tithes, which they do.

Can we invite them in, or do they sign them?

Well, they sign them.

They will sign them.

I don't know.

But see, they will no doubt attend to the practice.

Right.

You should have outmanned these things.

You should have said it before.

John, you said that the New York Times would cover it.

The French won't pay because the regular White House corresponded in those cases.

Yeah.

In other words, that's the only way we can get the New York Times on it.

I don't know what we'll do.

We'll put the regular White House first on the side.

I don't know if we'll get it back.

That's right.

There.

We just won't take the Times.

That's the issue.

All right.

We'll find a way.

I don't know what we'll do.

That's a tough job.