Nikki Haley Catches Heat for Slashing UN Peacekeeping Funds

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley caught some flak for a tweet she posted Wednesday night that said the U.N. has slashed its peacekeeping budget.

Haley posted this tweet late Wednesday evening:

"Just 5 months into our time here, we've cut over half a billion $$$ from the UN peacekeeping budget & we’re only getting started.” pic.twitter.com/LA7IKqupff

— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) June 29, 2017

The backlash to the message was swift, with people questioning why the U.N. would boast about cutting funding to that mission.

1) Why are we cutting funding for peacekeeping? 2) Why are we boasting about it? 3) No wonder global views of US leadership are plummeting https://t.co/nxMyL88Yht

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) June 29, 2017

Peacekeepers are often the only thing standing in the way of more chaos and suffering. It's downright dystopian for a UN Amb to cheer this. https://t.co/3UTZoytLMd

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) June 29, 2017

This seems like a weird thing to brag about. https://t.co/Np5OBS9c9o

— Lydia DePillis (@lydiadepillis) June 29, 2017

I know for a fact that Nikki Haley's Twitter feed has been driving some US & UN diplomats crazy. https://t.co/JcvHZW7jVU

— Nahal Toosi (@nahaltoosi) June 29, 2017

Blessed are the peacemakers, unless they cost @nikkihaley money in her quest to destroy the UN.

— Anita Creamer (@AnitaCreamer) June 29, 2017

Members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee asked Haley about the budget cuts Wednesday. She explained that America's contribution to the U.N. peacekeeping budget is 28.5 percent of its overall contribution.

"If you went to 25 percent you are not harming peace and stability," Haley said, Bloomberg reported. "I have seen value in the U.N., and at the same time the U.N. has fat around the edges."

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