The United States has made a payment toward its United Nations dues, a move the U.N. said comes as the organization faces funding shortfalls and President Donald Trump has been discussing the future of the world body.
The U.N. said Thursday that the United States paid about $160 million of the nearly $4 billion it owes. U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the payment Trump’s administration made last week was earmarked for the U.N.’s regular operating budget.
U.N. officials said the arrears total nearly $4 billion, made up of $2.196 billion owed to the U.N.’s regular budget and $1.8 billion owed to a separate budget for U.N. peacekeeping operations. The U.N. said the regular-budget figure includes $767 million for this year.
Dujarric said the Trump administration’s payment followed discussions in recent weeks that included U.S. officials and the U.N. controller. He also said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been in touch with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz “for quite some time.”
The latest disclosure tracked concerns that Guterres has raised about the U.N.’s finances. Late last month, Guterres warned that the world body faces “imminent financial collapse” unless the U.N.’s financial rules are overhauled or all 193 member nations pay their dues, with the message directed at the United States.
In a letter to member nations, Guterres said cash for the regular budget could run out by July, an outlook that could affect U.N. operations, according to the U.N. account. U.N. officials also said 95% of the overdue payments to the regular budget come from the United States.
The U.S. payment announcement came as Trump convened the first meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington. The initiative was initially aimed at overseeing a Gaza ceasefire, but it has drawn attention for its broader ambitions under Trump, with many seeing it as an attempt to rival the U.N. Security Council’s role in preventing and ending conflicts around the world.
At the Board of Peace meeting Thursday, Trump said his administration would work “very closely” with the U.N. and said, “Someday, I won’t be here — the United Nations will be.” He said the Board of Peace “is going to almost be looking over the United Nations,” including strengthening oversight and ensuring the U.N.’s facilities and operations are run properly.
Trump told the meeting that the U.N. “need[s] help” and “need[s] help moneywise,” and he said the administration was going to “help them moneywise” and “make sure the United Nations is viable.” He did not specify when additional U.S. payments would be made.
The U.N. said that, as of the Feb. 8 due date for annual dues for 2026, 55 countries had paid their dues.