President Donald Trump has pulled the US out of more than 60 international organizations, including UN agencies and the India-France-led International Solar Alliance, describing them as “redundant” and “against” America’s interests.
On Wednesday, Trump signed a memorandum titled ‘Withdrawing the United States from International Organisations, Conventions, and Treaties that Conflict with the Interests of the United States.’
After signing the memorandum, Trump stated that he had concluded it was “contrary” to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, engage with, or offer support to 66 UN and non-UN organizations. This includes 31 UN bodies and 35 non-UN groups that, according to a White House fact sheet released Wednesday, operate against US national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty.
Trump instructed all executive departments and agencies to take immediate action to implement the US withdrawal from these organizations “as soon as possible.” He further emphasized that, for UN entities, withdrawal would involve halting participation in or funding to those bodies, as allowed by law.
The list of organisations includes the International Solar Alliance, a collaborative initiative between India and France on climate change. Currently, over 100 countries are signatories to the ISA, with more than 90 countries having ratified to become full members.
The US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said on X the US will no longer fund or participate in international organisations that do not serve, or in many cases work counter to, American interests.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Trump Administration has found the 66 institutions to be “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity.”
The list of 35-non UN organisations and 31 UN entities includes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, International Solar Alliance, Science and Technology Centre in Ukraine, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) — Economic Commission for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific and Western Asia Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict.
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The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Peacebuilding Commission, Peacebuilding Fund, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Population Fund.
