Trump orders the withdrawal of the US from dozens of international organizations, including UN agencies
Donald Trump. Credit line: Pool/ABACA / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
American President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that provides for the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organizations that “no longer serve American interests”, the White House announced in a statement quoted by Reuters.
The White House did not list the organizations, but said they promote “radical climate policies, global governance and ideological agendas that conflict with US sovereignty and economic power.”
31 of these organizations are affiliated to the United Nations. According to Reuters, they include the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the core international climate change treaty that underpins all global climate negotiations.
The United States will also leave UN Women, the organization that promotes gender equality and women's empowerment, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN agency focused on family planning and maternal and child health in more than 150 countries. The US cut funding to UNFPA last year.
What the White House says
In the statement, the White House said that these withdrawals “will end the funding and involvement of American taxpayers in entities that promote globalist agendas at the expense of US priorities or that address important issues ineffectively, so that American taxpayers' money is optimally allocated in other ways to support relevant missions.”
“American taxpayers have spent billions of dollars on these organizations with little benefit, while they often criticize US policies, promote agendas contrary to our values, or waste taxpayer dollars pretending to address important issues without achieving real results.
By withdrawing from these entities, President Trump is saving taxpayers' money and redirecting resources to America First priorities,” the White House said.
Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has sought to reduce US funding to the UN, halted US involvement in the UN Human Rights Council, extended the suspension of funding to the Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, and left the UN cultural agency, UNESCO. He also announced plans to leave the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accord.
