In his debut speech at the United Nations on Monday, United States President Donald Trump said the world body was not living up to its potential. At a special meeting on reform held at the UN headquarters in New York, Trump asked the 193-nation organisation to “focus more on people, less on bureaucracy,” the BBC reported .

Trump will deliver a longer speech when he addresses the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. He is expected to seek global support to pressure North Korea from carrying out any more nuclear tests.

Trump said the United States would “pledge to be partners in your work” in order to make the UN “a more effective force” for peace across the globe. His speech was a sharp departure from his earlier stance. He has earlier described the United Nations as “a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time” and said it was not a “friend of democracy”. In 2016, he had threatened to reduce the United States’ contribution to the UN peacekeeping fund.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said Trump’s criticisms were accurate at the time, but that it is now a “new day” at the UN, according to TIME report.