The US government announced plans to exit 66 international organisations on Thursday — including the UN population agency and the treaty establishing international climate negotiations. The development also comes mere days after President Donald Trump sparked global consternation after launching missile strikes against Venezuela and capturing its leader Nicolás Maduro. The POTUS has also teased plans to ‘take over’ Greenland and multiple other sovereign nations in the near future.
“The 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 nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” the State Department said in a statement.
The missive cited Trump to add that it was “no longer acceptable” for the US to send these organisations its resources “with nothing to show for it”. Trump has long railed against international organisations as being ‘wasteful or harmful to US sovereignty’ — withdrawing from the WHO and Paris Agreement days after his inauguration.
US exits 66 organisations
The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organisations amid continued efforts to discontinue global cooperation. According to an AP news report, the POTUS signed an executive order suspending American support for these agencies and commissions on Wednesday. He also ordered a review of participation and funding for all international organisations. Most of the targets are reportedly UN-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labour and other issues that the Trump administration has categorised as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives.
He had previously suspended support from agencies like the World Health Organization, the UN for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the UN Human Rights Council and the UN cultural agency UNESCO. The Trump administration has taken a somewhat a-la-carte approach to paying its dues to the world body, picking which operations and agencies they believe align with Trump’s agenda and those which no longer serve US interests. The decisions marke a significant shift from how previous administrations (both Republican and Democratic) have dealt wit the UN.
Takeover of Venezuela, plans for Greenland and…
A stunning US military operation left Venezuela without its President over the weekend — with Trump announcing plans to ‘run the country’. The POTUS has since reiterated plans for a similar takeover of Greenland and hinted at action against several other countries.
The developments have prompted pushback in the US Congress — with both with Democratic and Republican senators saying on Wednesday they expected the Senate would eventually vote on legislation seeking to rein in Trump’s ability to attempt to seize Greenland. A military seizure of the mineral-rich Arctic island from long-time ally Denmark would also send shock waves through NATO and deepen the divide between Trump and European leaders.