Trump Soft-Soaps the U.N. Of Course, It Was Only Day 1 . . .

The polished and protocol-obsessed diplomats of the United Nations hardly knew what to expect when President Trump arrived at their citadel along the East River on Monday for the first time since taking office. But this was not it.

Instead of a tiger, they got a tabby. Mr. Trump, the apostle of America First who has heaped scorn on global institutions, ripped up international agreements and quarreled even with allies, offered a subdued and largely friendly performance on the opening day of his inaugural visit to the United Nations.

He praised Secretary General António Guterres for tackling mismanagement and bureaucracy. He complimented the United Nations — and himself — by boasting that he made the right decision to build a high-rise tower opposite its headquarters. Even his Twitter feed hewed closely to the sort of scripted lines his predecessors might have used: “great week ahead,” “looking forward to meeting,” “productive first day.” He came, he saw, he gripped and grinned.

“We pledge to be partners in your work,” Mr. Trump told a room full of world leaders as he embraced an effort to overhaul the organization. “And I am confident that if we work together and champion truly bold reforms, the United Nations will emerge as a stronger, more effective, more just and greater force for peace and harmony in the world.”

But if the most undiplomatic of modern presidents avoided a confrontation on Day 1, it may have only been to soften up the crowd for a tougher message on Tuesday when he addresses the General Assembly. In a speech drafted by his hard-line policy adviser, Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump plans to challenge the world to do more to counter threats from Iran and North Korea.

“It appears that he left out the anti-U. N. rhetoric he was so fond of during the campaign and instead recognized the potential of the U.N. to be involved in solving global crises and with an important role to play,” said Rachel Stohl, a scholar at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan research organization. By Tuesday, she said, “I would expect him to play to his base a bit and call for greater action with regards to Iran and North Korea.”

While he has made a few international trips as president, this is Mr. Trump’s first experience with such a varying collection of world leaders — with vastly different issues — all at once.

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