On 7/1, President Donald Trump signed a directive instructing departments and executive agencies to cease participation and funding for 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 United Nations entities. The White House stated these entities operate contrary to US national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty.

The White House statement did not name each organization specifically. This decision follows a review conducted earlier this year of all international intergovernmental organizations, conventions, and treaties to which the US is a member or party, and the mechanisms Washington funds or supports.

According to the White House, many of these organizations "promote ideological policies and programs that conflict with US sovereignty and economic strength". Withdrawing from these entities will help President Trump save taxpayer money and re-focus resources on the "America First" priority.

US President Donald Trump speaks in Washington on 6/1. *Photo: AFP*

President Trump has long expressed dissatisfaction with the level of US funding for multilateral organizations, calling on other nations to increase their contributions, especially to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Since the start of his second term in 1/2025, President Trump has withdrawn the US from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and ceased funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Washington has also withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

"What we are witnessing is the realization of the US multilateral approach based on the principle of 'if I don't get my way, I'll leave'," Daniel Forti, a senior expert on the United Nations at the non-profit policy institute ICG, based in Belgium, commented to *The Guardian*. "It's a very clear vision: international cooperation only on Washington's terms."

Nhu Tam (According to Reuters, AFP)