John Bolton: ‘Votes in the United Nations Should Cost Countries that Vote Against Us’

EXCERPT:

HEMMER: "I've got the comment from the president, I'll play it in a moment, that you just referred to. But I want you to comment on this first. This is the tweet from Nikki Haley that came earlier in the week. 'At the U.N.' -- she writes -- 'we’re always asked to do more and give more. So when we make a decision at the will of the American people about where to locate OUR embassy, we don’t expect those we have helped to target us. On Thursday there will be a vote criticizing our choice. The U.S. will be taking names.' There is a level of pressure that she is trying to apply there. How much does the U.N. pay attention to that?"
BOLTON: "Well, honestly, I don’t think they'll pay any attention because they think the threat is hollow. I -- I’ve been of the view that votes in the United Nations should cost people, cost countries that vote against us, and -- and I think while others have agreed with it, we never really have. I remember when Yemen voted against the authorization of the use of force against Saddam Hussein to kick him out of Kuwait in 1990. Jim Baker, who was sitting in the American chair, secretary of state turned back to us and said that was the most expensive vote Yemen ever cast, and we did cut their foreign aid. And there needs to be more of that, because basically I think in the general assembly in many U.N. bodies the membership simply doesn’t pay attention to the American position unless they think there is money on the line."