United Nations — Mike Waltz approaches him New role as US Ambassador To the United Nations and the mandate of President Donald Trump To cut funding for what had previously been a longstanding American priority in the same way he set out to represent Florida in Congress.
“I approach every decision I can make here with America first, with American taxpayers first,” Waltz said virtually at a recent event at the Richard Nixon Foundation. “So, if I had to stand in City Hall with a bunch of mechanics, firefighters, women, nurses and teachers and certify to them that their money is being well spent and in line with our best interests, that would be very difficult right now.”
He added: “That is why we are using, quite frankly, our contribution as leverage for reform” at the United Nations.
In recent meetings with UN officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, Waltz and his colleagues on the US mission made clear that the United States – the UN’s largest donor – would no longer foot the bill in the way it has since. The global organization was founded eight decades ago.
Instead, American officials are taking a selective approach to paying UN dues. Selection of operations and agencies They think it’s in line with Trump’s agenda, which it no longer is Serve American interests. It is a major shift from the way previous administrations — Republican and Democratic alike — have dealt with the United Nations, and it has forced the world body, already bowing to its pressure, to take tough action. Private internal accountto answer b A series of staff and program cuts.
Shortly after his appointment as ambassador, Waltz met with Guterres World leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly last month. In a Sept. 25 interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, the former congressman said he made it clear to a senior U.N. official that U.S.-backed changes need to happen “before you start talking about taxpayer money.”
“Washington’s decision sends a worrying signal that powerful countries can get away with it and are already trying to exert more pressure through a process aimed at giving the organization the support it needs to implement the mandates agreed upon by each country,” said Daniel Forte, senior UN analyst at the International Crisis Group.
The US Mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment or an interview with Waltz.
The United States demands changes to the salaries and benefits of some high-level UN officials so the United States can “have better transparency,” and wants to create an independent inspector general to oversee the complex financial system within the global organization.
But some UN organizations have been completely delisted. Waltz has said in interviews that the United States is retreating from agencies such as Global Health OrganizationThe United Nations aid agency in Gaza, known as UNRWA, and the Human Rights Council are permanent. And in other areas, such as contributions to the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO in the United States Decision to withdraw support It will not take effect until December 2026.
Many UN staff and groups are now watching to see whether the Trump administration’s targeting of climate and gender equality initiatives will also lead to significant cuts in two of the UN operation’s top priorities.
This pressure, coupled with years of… – Decline in support for humanitarian aidGuterres was forced to propose a 15% cut in the entire UN budget, an 18% cut in the UN budget, and a 25% cut in peacekeeping operations around the world.
“It is a deliberate and considered adjustment to an already conservative proposal for 2026 – reflecting the urgency and ambition of the reforms we are making,” Guterres told the UN Budget Committee this month.
So far, one of the most Drastic cuts to UN peacekeeping operationsThe United States has pledged to pay $680 million to various missions out of its outstanding bill of more than $2 billion, according to a senior UN official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations. As a result, approximately 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel out of more than 50,000 peacekeepers deployed in nine global missions will be sent home.
UN officials have warned that the consequences of withdrawing those forces from former conflict zones in South Sudan, Kosovo and Cyprus, among other places, would be serious and long-lasting.
Although UN peacekeeping operations “account for a small portion of global military spending – about half of 1% – they remain one of the most effective and cost-effective tools for building international peace and security,” Guterres says.
UN observers say the US cuts and changes go beyond simply imposing conservative financial values on an international organization and will lead to a transformation that will fundamentally change the way the United Nations operates around the world.
“What we also discovered is that there is no other country around the world besides the United States that was willing or able to step up and take on the role of financial guarantor in any way,” said Forte of the International Crisis Group. “Not China, not European countries, not the Gulf.”
He added that this forces development and humanitarian agencies to reduce “what the United Nations can actually deliver on the ground, with little prospect of the United States returning broadly to this role it played before.”
Even as these cuts are implemented, Waltz has pushed back against fears that the United States will withdraw entirely from the United Nations, echoing Trump’s recent speech at the General Assembly about the “great” but untapped potential of the world body.
The United States wants to expand its influence in several UN standard-setting initiatives where it has competition with China, such as the International Telecommunication Union, the International Maritime Organization, and the International Labor Organization.
“We are still the largest payer of bills,” Waltz said at a Nixon event last week. “China is closing in on second place, and this is a key area in our competition with the People’s Republic of China.”
He said he understands those in the Republican base who say, “We should just shut the place down, turn off the embassy lights, and leave.”
But Waltz added: “We still need one place in the world where everyone can talk, even if it’s with the North Koreans, the Venezuelans, the Europeans, the Russians, the Chinese.”