The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the UN’s population agency and the UN treaty that underpins global climate negotiations, in a move that deepens the United States’ retreat from multilateral cooperation.
Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending US support for 66 organizations, agencies and commissions.
The move followed his directive for the administration to review both participation in and funding for all international bodies, including those affiliated with the United Nations, according to a statement released by the White House on social media.
Many of the institutions affected are UN-linked agencies, commissions and advisory platforms that address issues such as climate policy and labor rights, which the Trump administration has characterized as promoting diversity and “woke” initiatives.
“The Trump administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” the state department said in a statement.
The decision to withdraw from organizations created to foster cooperation among nations on global challenges comes at a time when the administration has pursued a series of assertive foreign-policy actions and public threats that have unsettled allies and rivals alike.
These actions include capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and signaling an intention to take over Greenland.
The administration has previously halted support for a number of major bodies, including the World Health Organization, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees known as Unrwa, the UN human rights council and the UN cultural agency Unesco.
The shift reflects a broader a-la-carte approach to UN funding, backing only those initiatives seen as consistent with Trump’s priorities while stepping away from institutions deemed no longer aligned with US interests.
“I think what we’re seeing is the crystallization of the US approach to multilateralism, which is ‘my way or the highway’,” said Daniel Forti, senior UN analyst at the International Crisis Group. “It’s a very clear vision of wanting international cooperation on Washington’s own terms.”
The move marks a significant break from how previous Republican and Democratic administrations have engaged with the UN system, forcing the world body — already undergoing internal restructuring — to respond with program reductions and staffing cuts.
Several independent nongovernmental organizations, including some operating in partnership with UN agencies, have reported widespread program closures following the administration’s decision last year to sharply reduce foreign assistance through the US Agency for International Development, or USAID.
Despite the sweeping withdrawal, US officials — including Trump — insist they still recognize the strategic importance of the UN.
They say they instead intend to concentrate funding on forums where Washington seeks to expand its influence in competition with China, such as the International Telecommunications Union, the International Maritime Organization and the International Labor Organization.
The withdrawal from the UN framework convention on climate change, or UNFCCC, represents the latest effort by Trump and his allies to distance the US from global institutions focused on climate policy and efforts to address the escalating climate crisis.
The UNFCCC, a 1992 treaty among 198 countries that provides financial support for climate initiatives in developing nations, forms the legal foundation of the landmark Paris climate agreement.
Trump — who has repeatedly described climate change as a hoax — withdrew from the agreement shortly after reclaiming the White House.
Scientists say the intensifying climate crisis is contributing to more frequent and severe extreme-weather events, including floods, droughts, wildfires, heavy rainfall and dangerous heatwaves.
Analysts warn that the US exit could undermine international attempts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions because it “gives other nations the excuse to delay their own actions and commitments,” said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, chair of the Global Carbon Project, which tracks national carbon-dioxide emissions.
Experts add that meaningful global progress on climate mitigation will be far harder to achieve without US participation, given its status as one of the world’s largest emitters and leading economies.
The UN’s population agency — which provides sexual and reproductive health services worldwide — has long been a focal point of Republican opposition, and Trump cut its funding during his first term. He and other GOP officials have accused the agency of involvement in “coercive abortion practices” in countries such as China.
When Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he reinstated the funding, and a subsequent state department review found no evidence to support those claims.
Other organizations and initiatives the US plans to leave include the Carbon Free Energy Compact, the United Nations University, the International Cotton Advisory Committee and the International Tropical Timber Organization.
The list also covers the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the Pan-American Institute for Geography and History, the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies, and the International Lead and Zinc Study Group.
The state department said additional reviews of US participation in international organizations are continuing.
