Donald Trump has used his first appearance at the United Nations to call for "truly bold reforms" at the 193-nation organisation.

The US President has criticised the bureaucracy and the financial burden that UN membership imposes on the US, and said it needs to be "better" at development, management, peace and security.

His big moment will come on Tuesday when he delivers his first address to a session of the UN General Assembly.

The UN's Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, echoed Mr Trump's remarks - and said he shares the President's vision of a less wasteful organisation that is "nimble and effective, flexible and efficient".

Mr Trump's brief remarks returned to familiar themes from his election campaign, criticising UN bureaucracy and the amount of money the US is expected to contribute to it.


He said: "In recent years the United Nations has not reached its full potential because of bureaucracy and mismanagement, while the United Nations on a regular budget has increased by 140% and its staff has more than doubled since 2000.

"To honour the people of our nations we must ensure no nation shoulders a disproportionate share of the burden, militarily and financially.

"The United Nations must hold every level of management accountable, protect whistle-blowers and focus on results rather than on process."

Image: Donald Trump wants the UN to reduce bureaucracy and costs

The US is the biggest UN contributor, providing 22% of its $5.4bn (£4bn) biennial core budget and 28.5% of its $7.3bn (£5.4bn) peacekeeping budget.

In a forum where long speeches are commonplace, the US President spoke for just four minutes and the opening was unusual, even by his standards.

Referring to the potential for the UN to effect change in the world, the property tycoon mentioned one of his own successes, the Trump World Tower building, located nearby on United Nations Plaza.

Mr Trump said "I actually saw great potential right across the street, to be honest with you, and it was only for the reason that the United Nations was here that that turned out to be such a successful project."

While he failed to discuss North Korea or Iran or the Paris climate change deal, the White House later revealed Mr Trump had a phone conversation with Chinese Premier Xi Xinping, who, it said, was "committed to maximising pressure on North Korea through vigorous enforcement of UN Security Council resolutions".

Mr Trump's senior economic adviser, Gary Cohn, reaffirmed US plans to abandon the Paris climate change deal unless Washington gets a better deal, despite Mr Trump hinting he might change his position.