Trump: UN Is Just a Club for People to 'Have a Good Time'

Days after the United Nations voted to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Donald Trump questioned the body's effectiveness Monday, saying it is just a club for people to "have a good time." "The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time," he tweeted. "So sad!" On Friday, Trump warned, "As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th," referring to the day he takes office. The decision by the Obama administration to abstain from Friday's UN vote brushed aside Trump's demands that the US exercise its veto and provided a climax to years of icy relations with Israel's leadership.

Trump's tweet about the UN ignores much of the work that goes on in the 193-member global organization, though he is far from the first to criticize its massive bureaucracy, the AP reports. Trump tweeted later Monday: "The world was gloomy before I won—there was no hope. Now the market is up nearly 10 percent and Christmas spending is over a trillion dollars!" The AP notes that markets are indeed up since Trump won the election, though not by quite that much (the S&P 500 is up about 6% since Election Day, while the Dow has risen more than 8%.) As for holiday spending, Deloitte projected in September that total 2016 holiday sales were expected to exceed $1 trillion, representing a roughly 4% increase in holiday sales year-on-year. (More Donald Trump stories.)