WASHINGTON, Nov 4: US President Donald Trump is withholding funding for the United Nations until he sees reforms in the organisation, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said.
“Look, we are withholding American funding … The President is withholding American funding until we see the reforms,” Waltz told the Breitbart news portal.
According to the diplomat, no US president has done that in the 21st century. Waltz stressed that the United Nations had already cut the budget by 15 per cent.
“We have an 18 per cent cut to their overall personnel. We have a 25 per cent cut to their global peacekeeping force. The Secretary General has put forth a reform plan called the UN80—it’s the 80th anniversary of the UN—where he’s going to consolidate a bunch of these out-of-control agencies.
“He’s going to cut the overhead in the bureaucracy. We are going to give the UN tough love. I think we’re going to save it from itself in many ways, and we’re going to drive change, and the President knows best on how to, how to use that leverage, and my job is to actually push the UN to execute,” he added.
On May 2, in the draft budget for fiscal year 2026, US President Donald Trump proposed completely ending funding for UN peacekeeping operations, calling them ineffective and unfairly expensive for the US.
He also proposed suspending most mandatory and all voluntary contributions to United Nations structures, including the WHO, UNESCO, and the organisation’s regular budget.
–BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI