WASHINGTON (AP) β The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the U.N.’s population agency and the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations, asΒ the U.S. further retreats from global cooperation.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending U.S. support for 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, following his administrationβs review of participation in and funding for all international organizations, including those affiliated with the United Nations, according to a White House release.
Many of the targets are U.N.-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor, migration and other issues the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and βwokeβ initiatives. Other non-U.N. organizations on the list include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.
βThe Trump Administration has found these 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 nationβs sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,β Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Trump’s decision to withdraw from organizations that foster cooperation among nations to address global challenges comes as his administration has launched military efforts or issued threats that have rattled allies and adversaries alike, includingΒ capturing autocratic Venezuelan leader NicolΓ‘s MaduroΒ and indicating anΒ intention to take over Greenland.
US builds on pattern of exiting global agencies
The administration previously suspended support for agencies like theΒ World Health Organization, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the U.N. Human Rights Council andΒ the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. It has taken a larger, Γ la carteΒ approachΒ to paying dues to the world body,Β picking which operations and agenciesΒ it believes align with Trumpβs agenda and those that no longerΒ serve U.S. interests.
βI think what weβre seeing is the crystallization of the U.S. approach to multilateralism, which is βmy way or the highway,ββ said Daniel Forti, head of U.N. affairs at the International Crisis Group. βIt’s a very clear vision of wanting international cooperation on Washingtonβs own terms.β
It has marked a major shift from how previous administrations β both Republican and Democratic β have dealt with the U.N., and it has forced the world body, already undergoing itsΒ own internal reckoning, to respond with aΒ series of staffing and program cuts.
Many independent nongovernmental agencies β some that work with the United Nations βΒ have cited many project closuresΒ because of the U.S. administrationβs decision last year to slash foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
Despite the massive shift, Trump administration officials say they see the potential of the U.N. and want to insteadΒ focus taxpayer money on expanding American influenceΒ in many of the standard-setting U.N. initiatives where there is competition with China, like the International Telecommunications Union, the International Maritime Organization and the International Labor Organization.
The latest global organizations the US is departing
The withdrawal from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, orΒ UNFCCC, is the latest effort by Trump and his allies to distance the U.S. from international organizations focused on climate and addressing climate change.
UNFCCC, the 1992 agreement between 198 countries to financially support climate change activities in developing countries, is the underlying treaty for the landmark Paris climate agreement. Trump β who calls climate change a hoax β withdrew from that agreement soon after reclaiming the White House.
Gina McCarthy, former White House National Climate Adviser, said being the only country in the world not part of the treaty is βshortsighted, embarrassing, and a foolish decision.β
βThis Administration is forfeiting our countryβs ability to influence trillions of dollars in investments, policies, and decisions that would have advanced our economy and protected us from costly disasters wreaking havoc on our country,β McCarthy, who co-chairs America Is All In, a coalition of climate-concerned U.S. states and cities, said in a statement.
Mainstream scientists sayΒ climate change is behind increasing instancesΒ ofΒ deadly and costlyΒ extreme weather, including flooding, droughts,Β wildfires,Β intense rainfall eventsΒ andΒ dangerous heat.
The U.S. withdrawal could hinder global efforts to curb greenhouse gases because it βgives other nations the excuse to delay their own actions and commitments,β said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who chairs the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists that tracks countriesβ carbon dioxide emissions.
It will also be difficult to achieve meaningful progress on climate change without cooperation from the U.S., one of the worldβs largest emitters and economies, experts said.
The U.N. Population Fund, the agency providing sexual and reproductive health worldwide, has long been a lightning rod for Republican opposition, and Trump cut funding for it during his first term. He and other GOP officials have accused the agency of participating in βcoercive abortion practicesβ in countries like China.
When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he restored funding for the agency. A State Department review conducted the following year found no evidence to support GOP claims.
Other organizations and agencies that the U.S. will quit include the Carbon Free Energy Compact, the United Nations University, the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the International Tropical Timber Organization, the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, 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.
