Washington. The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the UN’s population agency and the treaty underpinning global climate negotiations, marking a further retreat by the United States from multilateral cooperation.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending US support for 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions following a broad review of US participation in and funding for international bodies, including those affiliated with the United Nations, according to a White House release.

Many of the targeted groups are UN-related agencies, commissions, and advisory panels focused on climate, labor, migration, and other issues the administration has labeled as promoting diversity and “woke” initiatives. Non-UN organizations affected include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.

“The Trump administration has found these institutions to be redundant in scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

The decision to exit organizations designed to foster international cooperation comes as the administration has launched or signaled aggressive actions abroad that have unsettled allies and adversaries alike, including the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and statements suggesting an intention to take over Greenland.

Pattern of Exiting Global Agencies

The move builds on a broader pattern. The administration has previously suspended support for the World Health Organization, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN cultural agency UNESCO.

It has also adopted a more selective, à la carte approach to paying UN dues, funding only those operations it deems aligned with Trump’s agenda.

“What we’re seeing is the crystallization of the US approach to multilateralism, which is ‘my way or the highway,’” said Daniel Forti, head of UN affairs at the International Crisis Group. “It’s a very clear vision of international cooperation on Washington’s own terms.”

The shift marks a sharp departure from how previous Republican and Democratic administrations engaged with the UN and has forced the world body — already undergoing internal reform — to cut staff and programs.

Many independent nongovernmental organizations, including some that partner with the UN, have cited widespread project closures following the administration’s decision last year to slash foreign assistance through the US Agency for International Development.

Despite the sweeping pullback, Trump administration officials say they still see value in the UN and plan to focus US funding on standard-setting bodies where competition with China is most intense, including the International Telecommunications Union, the International Maritime Organization, and the International Labor Organization.

Climate and Population Agencies Targeted
Among the most significant withdrawals is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC — the 1992 treaty involving 198 countries that underpins the Paris climate agreement. Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change a hoax, withdrew the US from the Paris accord shortly after returning to the White House.

Gina McCarthy, a former White House national climate adviser, called the decision “shortsighted, embarrassing, and foolish.”

“This administration is forfeiting our country’s ability to influence trillions of dollars in investments, policies, and decisions that would have advanced our economy and protected us from costly disasters,” said McCarthy, who now co-chairs America Is All In, a coalition of US states and cities focused on climate action.

Mainstream scientists say climate change is driving more frequent and costly extreme weather, including floods, droughts, wildfires, heavy rainfall, and dangerous heat waves.

The US withdrawal could weaken global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions by giving other countries “an excuse to delay their own actions and commitments,” said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who chairs the Global Carbon Project.

Progress on climate change will be difficult without cooperation from the US, one of the world’s largest emitters and economies, experts said.

The administration is also ending support for the UN Population Fund, which provides sexual and reproductive health services worldwide. The agency has long faced Republican opposition, with Trump and other GOP officials accusing it of involvement in coercive abortion practices in countries such as China.

A State Department review conducted during the Biden administration found no evidence to support those claims, and funding was restored in 2021.

Other organizations the US plans to leave include the Carbon Free Energy Compact, the United Nations University, the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the International Tropical Timber Organization, the Pan-American Institute for Geography and History, the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies, and the International Lead and Zinc Study Group.

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