U.S. is withdrawing from 66 international organizations, Trump memo reveals

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States would withdraw from dozens of international and U.N. entities, including a key climate treaty and a U.N. body that promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment, because they “operate contrary to U.S. national interests.”

Among the 35 non-U.N. groups and 31 U.N. entities Trump listed in a memo to senior administration officials is the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change — described by many as the “bedrock” climate treaty which is parent agreement to the 2015 Paris climate deal.

The United States skipped the annual U.N. international climate summit last year for the first time in three decades.

“The United States would be the first country to walk away from the UNFCCC,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Every other nation is a member, in part because they recognize that even beyond the moral imperative of addressing climate change, having a seat at the table in those negotiations represents an ability to shape massive economic policy and opportunity,” said Bapna.

The U.S. will also quit UN Women, which works for gender equality and the empowerment of women, and the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the international body’s agency focused on family planning as well as maternal and child health in more than 150 countries. The U.S. cut its funding for the UNFPA last year.

“For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law,” reads the memo. Trump has already largely slashed voluntary funding to most U.N. agencies.

A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

TRUMP WARY OF MULTILATERAL ORGANIZATIONS

Trump’s move reflects his long-standing wariness of multilateral institutions, particularly the United Nations. He has repeatedly questioned the effectiveness, cost and accountability of international bodies, arguing they often fail to serve U.S. interests.

Since beginning his second term a year ago, Trump has sought to slash U.S. funding for the United Nations, stopped U.S. engagement with the U.N. Human Rights Council, extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and quit the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. He has also announced plans to quit the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement.

Other entities on the U.S. list are the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, the International Energy Forum, the U.N. Register of Conventional Arms and the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission.

The White House said the dozens of entities that Washington was seeking to depart as soon as possible promote “radical climate policies, global governance, and ideological programs that conflict with U.S. sovereignty and economic strength.”

It said the move is part of a review of all international intergovernmental organizations, conventions and treaties.

“These withdrawals will end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over U.S. priorities, or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively such that U.S. taxpayer dollars are best allocated in other ways to support the relevant missions,” the White House said in a statement.

—Jasper Ward and Valerie Volcovici, Reuters