President Trump on Wednesday pulled the United States out of dozens of international agencies, including more than 30 United Nations organizations, as the president underscores his “America First” agenda.
All told, Mr. Trump pulled U.S. support for 66 global organizations, agencies and commissions, including 31 United Nations entities.
Among the agencies are the U.N. population agency, the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate regulations, the Global Forum for Migration and Development, which is tied to the U.N.’s Global Compact for Migration.
Of the non-U.N. agencies, Mr. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.
By pulling the U.S. out of the agencies, the U.S. will no longer provide financial support or be bound to their conventions or treaties.
Mr. Trump wrote in an executive order that he determined “it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in or otherwise provide support to the organizations” listed in the directive.
In a statement, the State Department said the Trump administration “found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas and contrary to our own or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms and general prosperity.”
Last year, Mr. Trump pulled U.S. support for other international agencies such as the World Health Organization, the agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N.’s cultural agency, UNESCO.
The decision to withdraw from international organizations comes as Mr. Trump seeks cooperation from other countries to deal with some of the challenges he’s faced on the world stage such as striking a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, moving the Gaza ceasefire to its second stage, and dealing with the fallout from the U.S. capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
It also follows Mr. Trump’s blistering speech at the United Nations in September where he berated the organization and international leaders for doing little to help him end decades-old global conflicts and condemned the world peace organization as useless and ineffective.
He mocked the organization by saying it doesn’t do much beyond issuing strongly worded letters and questioned the purpose of the United Nations itself.
