Palm Beach, United States: US President-elect Donald Trump launched a fresh salvo of accusations against the United Nations Wednesday, saying the world body had not lived up to its potential and failed to solve global problems.

‘The UN had such tremendous potential. (It is) not living up to its potential,’ Trump told reporters at his Florida holiday resort Mar-a-Lago.

‘When do you see the United Nations solving problems? They don’t. They cause problems.’

The international institution, set up amid the ashes of World War II includes the World Health Organization, which helped eradicate small pox, and the Security Council, which was frozen by divisions as Syria plunged into chaos.

‘If it lives up to the potential, it’s a great thing. If it doesn’t, it’s a waste of time and money,’ Trump said.

His comments came as incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he wants to meet Trump ‘as soon as possible’ and is ‘determined to establish a constructive dialogue with the new US administration.’

The former Portuguese prime minister takes over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1. Trump takes office on January 20.