U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the United States to withdraw from 66 international organisations that, according to the administration, “no longer serve American interests.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the move follows a review of international bodies deemed wasteful, ineffective, or counterproductive. Some of the organisations had previously been targeted under Executive Order 14199 issued on February 4, 2025, which ended U.S. funding to certain UN agencies.
Rubio explained that the review, conducted in consultation with the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, assessed all international intergovernmental organisations in which the U.S. participates and provides support.
“President Trump is clear: it is no longer acceptable to send American taxpayer money to institutions that yield little or nothing in return,” Rubio said. “The days of billions of dollars flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over.”
Non-UN organisations included in the withdrawal list are the Global Forum on Migration and Development, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law. UN bodies include the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, International Trade Centre, Peacebuilding Commission, UN Women, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the UN Population Fund, among others.
Rubio said that many international organisations have shifted from their original missions to promote global governance, often advancing progressive agendas, and he argued that they now constrain American sovereignty.
“America will no longer expend resources, diplomatic capital, and legitimacy on institutions that are irrelevant or conflict with national interests,” Rubio said. “We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not.”