
The US PresidentDonald Trumpwill not be attending the UN General Assembly in person, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has announced.
The announcement has come after Trump has repeatedly claimed that he will be attending the assembly in person in New York, whether or not other leaders choose to.
Majority of the world leaders had decided to attend the UN General Assembly through videoconferencing as the coronavirus took over the world and sent countries into lockdown.
The debate around whether or not Trump should and would attend the assembly in person had been going on for a couple of months now. However, Meadows confirmed the news aboard Air Force One while the delegation was flying to Wisconsin, along with Trump, for hiscampaign rally for the upcomingUS elections.
The reason behind this change of heart has not been clearly stated. While some reports state it is to avoid the dangers posed by the novel coronavirus, other believe that Trump wants to focus on campaigning for the upcoming elections, in which he is competing against Joe Biden, who is leading in the initial polls.
The main portion of the UN General Assmbly will start on September 21 and end on September 29, where various world leaders will deliver speeches with a focus response to the pandemic and"peace and security, disarmament, human rights, gender equality and sustainable development."
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered his opening remarks on Tuesday.