Highlights:
- Trump signed a memorandum withdrawing the US from 66 international organizations.
- The move includes 31 UN bodies and 35 non-UN institutions.
- The International Solar Alliance, led by India and France, is among those affected.
- The administration cited sovereignty, waste, and ideological bias as reasons.
- Funding and participation will end “as soon as possible,” subject to US law.
President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from more than 60 international organizations, including prominent United Nations bodies and the International Solar Alliance (ISA), declaring them “redundant” and “contrary” to American interests.
Trump signed a memorandum on Wednesday titled ‘Withdrawing the United States from International Organisations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States’. Following the signing, the president said he had determined that it is “contrary” to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise support 66 international organizations.
According to a White House fact sheet, the list includes 31 United Nations entities and 35 non-UN organizations “that operate contrary to US national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty.” Trump directed all executive departments and agencies to take immediate steps to implement the withdrawals “as soon as possible.”
For UN bodies, withdrawal will mean ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by US law, Trump said. A UN spokesperson confirmed that the organization had received the full list and would provide a response on Thursday.
Among the most notable exits is the International Solar Alliance, a climate-focused initiative jointly led by India and France. The ISA currently has over 100 signatory countries, with more than 90 having ratified the framework to become full members.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said on X that the US “will no longer fund or participate in international organisations that do not serve, or in many cases work counter to, American interests.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly defended the decision, stating that the Trump administration found the 66 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.”
“President Trump is clear: It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it. The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over,” Rubio said.
Rubio added that institutions originally designed to promote peace and cooperation have “morphed into a sprawling architecture of global governance, often dominated by progressive ideology and detached from national interests.” He criticized what he described as mandates related to DEI, gender equity, and climate policy, saying these organizations “actively seek to constrain American sovereignty.”
“We will not continue expending resources, diplomatic capital, and the legitimising weight of our participation in institutions that are irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests. We reject inertia and ideology in favour of prudence and purpose,” Rubio said.
The list of organizations includes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UN Population Fund, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and multiple UN offices focused on peacebuilding, children in armed conflict, and sexual violence.
Trump has long criticized the United Nations. Within hours of being sworn in for his second term, he ordered the US to withdraw again from the Paris climate agreement. He later announced the US would not participate in the UN Human Rights Council, would review its membership in UNESCO, and would suspend funding to UNRWA.
Addressing the UN General Assembly last year, Trump said, “...what is the purpose of the United Nations? … It's empty words and empty words don't solve war.”
