'Not a friend of democracy': Trump's past UN criticism

WASHINGTON (AP) - "Utter weakness and incompetence." ''Not a friend of democracy." ''Just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time."

As President Donald Trump visits the United Nations, a look at some of his past tough comments about the world body:

- "Why is the UN condemning @Israel and doing nothing about Syria? What a disgrace," he tweeted in October 2011, one of a series of tweets about the organization that year. Trump said that September he was "increasingly concerned" with what he called "the UN's ploy against @Israel this coming week."

"We must stand firm against the UN's ploy to sabotage Israel -- -if the UN grants the PA statehood then we must immediately defund it," he wrote.

- "The cheap 12 inch sq. marble tiles behind speaker at UN always bothered me. I will replace with beautiful large marble slabs if they ask me," he tweeted in October 2012.

- In a speech at the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington in March 2016, Trump took on what he described as "the utter weakness and incompetence of the United Nations."

"The United Nations is not a friend of democracy, it's not a friend to freedom, it's not a friend even to the United States of America; whereas you know it has its home and it surely is not a friend to Israel," he said.

-Angry at the Obama administration for not vetoing a U.N. resolution that criticized Israel for its settlement activity, the soon-to-be-president said in a Dec. 23, 2016 tweet that: "As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th."

-"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. So sad!" Trump tweeted on Dec. 26, 2016, shortly before his move to Washington.

- "The U.N. has such tremendous potential, not living up to its potential," he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in December 2016. "When do you see the United Nations solving problems? They don't. They cause problems. So, if it lives up to the potential, it's a great thing. And if it doesn't, it's a waste of time and money."

-"I have long felt the United Nations is an underperformer but has tremendous potential," Trump told ambassadors and their spouses who visited the White House for lunch in April. "I think that the United Nations has tremendous potential - tremendous potential - far greater than what I would say any other candidate in the last 30 years would have even thought to say. I don't think it's lived up - I know it hasn't lived up to the potential."

He added: "You just don't see the United Nations, like, solving conflicts. I think that's going to start happening now. I can see it. And the United Nations will get together and solve conflicts. It won't be two countries, it will be the United Nations mediating or arbitrating with those countries. So I see fantastic potential."