The United States has announced plans to pull out of 66 international organisations in a wide policy shift that the Trump administration says is aimed at protecting national interests and cutting wasteful spending.
The move, revealed on Wednesday, marks one of the most extensive rollbacks of US involvement in global bodies in recent years and reflects a renewed push to reshape how the country engages with international institutions.
The decision was communicated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio following the signing of a new executive order directing a full review of America’s role in international organisations. According to the administration, the review was carried out under Executive Order 14199 and focused on bodies viewed as ineffective, costly, or harmful to US priorities.
In a statement, Rubio said the withdrawals followed the outcome of that review. “Today, in furtherance of Executive Order 14199, President Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organizations identified as part of the Trump Administration’s review,” the statement said, adding that review of additional international organizations pursuant to Executive Order 14199 remains ongoing.
The administration said the action delivers on a campaign pledge by President Donald Trump to stop what it calls the misuse of American taxpayer money outside the country. Officials argued that the US has for years funded organisations that do not serve its people or values.
According to the statement, the withdrawals are meant to prevent the US from financing globalist bureaucrats who act against American interests. The organisations selected for exit were described as overlapping in purpose, poorly managed, unnecessary, wasteful, or driven by actors pushing agendas that conflict with those of the US.
The administration also said some of the bodies undermine US sovereignty, freedoms, and economic wellbeing. “It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it,” the statement said. “The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over.”
While the detailed list of the 66 organisations was referenced separately, the administration framed the move as part of a deeper criticism of the current international system. It said structures that were once built to support peace and cooperation have grown into an oversized system of global control.
The statement claimed that many of these institutions are now shaped by progressive ideas that no longer reflect national interests. It pointed to efforts such as “DEI mandates”, “gender equity” campaigns and “climate orthodoxy” as examples of agendas the administration opposes.
“These organizations actively seek to constrain American sovereignty,” the statement said, adding that their influence is spread by elite networks and the multilateral ‘NGO-plex’, which the administration says it has already begun to dismantle through the closure of USAID.
The Trump administration said it will no longer spend money, political effort, or lend credibility to organisations it believes do not serve or directly oppose US interests. “We reject inertia and ideology in favor of prudence and purpose,” the statement said. “We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not.”
The announcement reinforces President Trump’s long-held doubt about multilateral institutions, a central feature of his foreign policy outlook. By presenting the withdrawals as a defence of sovereignty and public funds, the administration has cast the decision as both practical and necessary.
However, officials made clear that the process is still under way. Reviews of other international organisations are continuing, raising the possibility of further exits that could reshape the US role across many global platforms.
For now, the administration said its stance is firm. “The Trump Administration will always put America and Americans first.”
Among the 31 UN-affiliated bodies that Trump ordered to withdraw from are:
- The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): The main UN body for climate negotiations
- UN Women: The main UN body on gender equality
- The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict
- The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict
- UN Population Fund (UNFPA): Major UN agency on population, reproductive health, and demographics
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
- UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat)
- The Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
