President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday suspending U.S. support for 66 international organizations, agencies, and commissions — including the United Nations population agency and the foundational UN climate treaty — according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a presidential decision that had not yet been publicly announced.
The move accelerates the administration’s retreat from multilateral institutions, building on earlier suspensions of U.S. support to the World Health Organization and other UN bodies, and could set back global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, climate scientists said.
State Department rationale
The State Department, in a statement, characterized the targeted institutions as redundant in scope, poorly managed, unnecessary, wasteful, mismanaged, captured by special interests pushing agendas contrary to U.S. interests, or a threat to U.S. sovereignty, freedoms, and prosperity.
Most of the 66 targets are UN-related agencies, commissions, and advisory panels focused on climate, labor, and issues the administration has categorized as pro-diversity and “woke” initiatives, the official said.
Climate treaty withdrawal
Among the organizations targeted is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as the UNFCCC — a 1992 treaty among 198 countries to financially support climate activities in developing nations. The UNFCCC is the underlying treaty for the Paris Agreement, the landmark international climate accord.
Trump, who has described climate change as a hoax, withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement shortly after taking office.
Scientists say climate change is behind an increase in extreme weather events, including floods, droughts, wildfires, intense rainfall, and dangerous heat.
Rob Jackson, a climate scientist at Stanford University who chairs the Global Carbon Project — a group that tracks countries’ carbon dioxide emissions — said the U.S. withdrawal from the UNFCCC could give other nations an excuse to delay their own climate commitments. Experts said it will be difficult to achieve significant progress on climate change without U.S. cooperation, given the country’s standing as one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters.
A widening break with multilateral institutions
The executive order extends a pattern of withdrawal that has already reshaped the U.S. relationship with the UN system. The administration previously suspended support to the World Health Organization, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the UN Human Rights Council, and UNESCO, applying a selective approach to international assessments based on whether agencies align with administration priorities.
The shift marks a significant departure from how previous U.S. administrations — both Republican and Democratic — engaged with the United Nations. The world body, already undergoing internal restructuring, has responded with a series of staff and program cuts.
Funding reductions also extended to foreign assistance. Many nongovernmental organizations working with UN agencies reported project closures after the administration moved to curtail foreign aid through the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The order comes as the administration has launched military operations and issued territorial demands that have unsettled both allies and adversaries, including the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and stated intentions to acquire Greenland.