These sweeping changes will leave the US a key forum for cooperation on climate change, peace and democracy.
United States President Donald Trump has announced that he plans to withdraw the US from 66 United Nations and international organizations, including key forums for cooperation on climate change, peace and democracy.
In a presidential memorandum shared by the White House on Wednesday evening, Trump said the decision came after a review of “institutions, conventions and treaties that are contrary to the interests of the United States.”
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Trump said the changes would halt U.S. participation and cut all funding to affected organizations.
The list shared by the White House includes 35 non-UN organizations, notably the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
though IPCC The White House added to the list of non-UN organizations, a UN agency that brings together top scientists to assess evidence related to climate change and provide periodic scientific assessments to help inform political leaders.
In addition, the White House said it was withdrawing from 31 UN agencies, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN’s top climate change treaty body, the UN Democracy Fund and UNFPA, the top UN agency working on maternal and child health.
Many of the UN agencies focus on protecting at-risk groups from violence during wars, including the UN Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict.
In a note to reporters Wednesday evening, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN is expected to respond to the announcement by Thursday morning.
Despite publicly claiming that he wants less US involvement in UN forums, Trump has not shied away from influencing decision-making at the international level.
Trump in October last year Threatened to impose sanctions Diplomats who imposed tariffs on polluting shipping fuel that had been agreed at an earlier meeting effectively sunk the deal for 12 months.
Even the Trump administration Restrictions imposed On UN Special Representative Francesca Albanese, after she published Report Documenting the role of international and American companies in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
So did Trump in 2017 Threatened to stop aid from countries voting in support of the draft And A resolution condemning the US decision to ratify Jerusalem As the capital of Israel.
As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. also wields considerable power in the United Nations, as only one in five countries is able to veto measures it does not like, a power the U.S. Used frequently to block efforts to end Israel’s war on Gaza before brokering a cease-fire late last year.
Trump has already withdrawn from the US since his second term began in January last year World Health Organization (WHO)The Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Trump left these three institutions during his first administration, but former US President Joe Biden’s administration later revoked them.
The US withdrawal from the WHO will take effect on January 22, 2026, one year after the White House ordered it.
Between 2024 and 2025, the US contributed $261 million to the WHO, about 18 percent of the funding the organization receives for its work promoting global cooperation on a variety of health issues. Tuberculosis and epidemics, such as COVID-19.
The Trump administration has also continued a US funding ban on UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which began under Biden.