Kelly Craft, the United States ambassador to the UN and previously US envoy to Canada, with her husband, Joseph Craft III, at a reception in Ottawa, Oct. 15, 2018. The value of Joseph Craft’s holdings in his energy company has dropped by more than $300 million in the last year. US EMBASSY CANADA
Secretary-General António Guterres holds a virtual press conference to promote a report on his call for a global cease-fire during the Covid-19 outbreak, April 3, 2020. A Security Council draft resolution supporting his call was knocked down by the US on May 8, facing a low chance for revival. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO
Kelly Craft, US envoy to the UN, saying farewell to Karen Pierce, her British counterpart and now the UK ambassador to the US, March 12, 2020. It was the last day the Security Council met physically as the UN shut down days later. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO
President Trump at a coronavirus update briefing, April 13, 2020. His attack on the WHO could backfire, the author argues, especially if the new pro-WHO coalition develops a vaccine before the US does. D. MYLES CULLEN/WHITE HOUSE
Just how crazy is Donald Trump’s campaign to punish the World Health Organization over its apparent “China-centric” bias in the midst of a deadly pandemic? Let us count the ways. At the top of the list: It may contribute to a big setback for Trump himself.
President Trump and US ambassador to the UN, Kelly Craft, speaking at an event on religious freedom, Sept. 23, 2019, UN headquarters. A few weeks ago in an interview with Fox News, Craft refused to blame China for the pandemic. She has since reversed course. TIA DUFOUR/WHITE HOUSE
What a difference a few weeks can make.
At the end of March, Kelly Craft, President Trump’s top ambassador at the United Nations, insisted that midbattle against a dread disease sweeping the globe was no time for an international blame game.
Stilled life in a usually active marina, Diversey Harbor in Lincoln Park, Chicago. The author of this essay, who is on sabbatical in Chicago, writes that amid the global economic meltdown and pandemic, “the breakdown in international cooperation is devastating.” THOMAS G. WEISS
CHICAGO — American cities have an intimate association with the United Nations. That relationship started in San Francisco 75 years ago later this month and continues today and, one hopes, tomorrow in the New York and Washington headquarters for the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions.
President Trump and the White House coronavirus task force, April 7, 2020. On April 14, he followed through on his threat to withhold US funding to the UN’s World Health Organization, right in the middle of a pandemic. ANDREA HANKS
Ambassador Zhang Jun of China, presiding over the UN Security Council, March 12, 2020, days before the Council began meeting strictly online because of the coronavirus pandemic. Diplomats have expressed concern and frustration over the sudden lack of transparency by the Council in migrating its meetings to virtual formats. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO
Kelly Craft, speaking to reporters outside the UN Security Council, Jan. 6, 2020. The US ambassador to the UN appeared on Fox News on March 29 but refused to take the bait from a network correspondent and blame China for the pandemic. USUN
President Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo love to label Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus.”
Secretary-General António Guterres holds a virtual press briefing to appeal for a global cease-fire during the coronavirus pandemic, March 23, 2020. So far, his call has been heard in Cameroon, Philippines, Yemen and parts of Syria. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
