Washington– The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the UN population agency and the UN treaty that defines international climate negotiations. The United States is retreating further from global cooperation.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending U.S. support for 66 organizations, agencies and committees following his instructions to his administration to review participation and funding for all international organizations, including those affiliated with the United Nations, according to a White House statement on social media.
Most of the targets are agencies, committees and advisory committees associated with the UN that focus on climate, labor and other issues that the Trump administration has designated as meeting diversity and “vigilance” initiatives.
“The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, and mismanaged, and have been captured by the interests of actors who advance their own agendas that conflict with ours, or pose a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and overall prosperity,” the State Department said in a statement.
Trump’s decision to withdraw from organizations that promote cooperation between nations to address global challenges comes at a time when his administration has launched military efforts or issued threats that have alarmed allies and adversaries alike, including Arrest of Venezuelan authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro And it indicates Intention to seize Greenland.
The administration had previously suspended support from agencies such as Global Health OrganizationThe United Nations for Palestinian Refugees, known as UNRWA, and the United Nations Human Rights Council United Nations cultural agency UNESCO Because it has taken a more selective approach in paying its dues to the global organization, Selection of operations and agencies They think it’s in line with Trump’s agenda and it’s not Serve American interests.
“I think what we are seeing is the crystallization of the American approach to multilateralism, which is my way or the highway,” said Daniel Forte, senior UN analyst at the International Crisis Group. “It’s a very clear vision of the desire for international cooperation on Washington’s own terms.”
It marked a major shift from the way previous administrations — Republican and Democratic alike — had dealt with the United Nations, and forced the world body, already under its pressure, to force the world’s attention. Private internal accountto answer b A series of staff and program cuts.
Many independent non-governmental agencies – some working with the United Nations – Many have cited project closures Due to the decision taken by the US administration last year to reduce foreign aid through the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Despite the massive shift, US officials, including Trump himself, say they have seen the potential of the UN and want instead to focus taxpayer money on expanding American influence in several UN standard-setting initiatives where there is competition with China, such as the International Telecommunication Union, International Maritime Organization and International Labor Organization.
Withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changeis the latest effort by Trump and his allies to distance the United States from international organizations focused on climate and addressing climate change.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a 1992 agreement between 198 countries to provide financial support for climate change activities in developing countries, is the core treaty of the landmark Paris climate agreement. Trump – who calls climate change a hoax – withdrew from this agreement shortly after regaining the White House.
Senior scholars say Climate change is behind the rising cases to Deadly and expensive Extreme weather, including floods and droughts, forest fires, Heavy rainfall events and Dangerous heat.
Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who heads the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists that tracks countries’ carbon dioxide emissions, said a U.S. withdrawal could hamper global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases because it “gives other countries an excuse to delay their actions and commitments.”
It will also be difficult to achieve meaningful progress on climate change without cooperation from the United States, one of the world’s largest emitters and economies, experts said.
The UN population agency, which provides sexual and reproductive health around the world, has long been a lightning rod for Republican opposition, and Trump himself cut funding for the agency during his first term in office. He and other GOP officials accused the agency of engaging in “coercive abortion practices” in countries such as China.
When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he restored funding to the agency. A State Department review the following year found no evidence to support these allegations.
Other organizations and agencies from which the United States will withdraw include the Carbon-Free Energy Agreement, the United Nations University, the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the International Tropical Timber Organization, the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the Inter-American Institute of Geography and History, the International Federation of Arts and Cultural Agencies, and the International Lead and Zinc Study Group.
The State Department said additional reviews are underway.
___
Al-Amiri reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writer Tammy Weber reported from Vinton, Michigan.