The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, warned that the United States will "take names" of countries that will vote in favor of a resolution condemning the Trump administration's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
"At the UN, we are constantly being asked to do more and give more: in the past we did it, so when we make a decision, by the will of the Americans, on where to place our embassy, we do not." "I hope those of us who helped sign up," Haley wrote on Facebook and Twitter Tuesday night. "On Thursday there will be a vote at the UN criticizing our election, and yes, the United States will take names".
President Donald Trump supported his ambassador's harsh speech at a government meeting in Washington on Wednesday. "We are seeing those votes," said the president. "Let them vote against us, we will save a lot, we do not care, but that's not how they could vote against you and then get paid hundreds of millions of dollars and nobody knows what they're doing."
Trump indicated that he and Haley had agreed on their message in advance. "Nikki, this was the correct message that you and I agreed to be sent yesterday," he said. "The people who live here, our great citizens who love this country, are tired of taking advantage of this country and we will not take advantage of it any more".
On Monday, the United States exercised its veto power at the UN to sink a Security Council resolution criticizing the White House's unilateral move to recognize the city as the capital of Israel. Haley vetoed, blocking the resolution presented by Egypt, despite the fact that the other 14 members of the Security Council voted in favor.
"What we saw today in the Security Council is an insult, it will not be forgotten, it is another example of the UN that does more harm than good in the face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Haley said after his veto.
The Palestinians are now moving the resolution before the UN General Assembly, where the United States can not unilaterally avoid censorship. A vote is scheduled for Thursday.
In addition to his caution on social media, Haley also sent a letter to other nations to warn them of the potential impact of their vote.
"Considering your vote, I want you to know that the President and the United States personally take this vote." you wrote "The president will carefully observe this vote and asked to inform the countries that voted against us".
In early December, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and transfer its embassy there. The controversial decision has resulted in decades of previous foreign policy and burning protests throughout the region.
Kevin Liptak, Oren Liebermann, CNN's Elise Labott and Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.