President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations that the White House said no longer serve American interests.
The White House said the directive orders all executive departments and agencies to stop participating in and funding 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 U.N. entities that the administration concluded operate contrary to U.S. national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty.
The White House said the action follows a review of every international intergovernmental organization, convention, and treaty that the U.S. belongs to, funds, or otherwise supports.
The White House said the withdrawals will end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities it argues advance globalist agendas over U.S. priorities, or address important issues so inefficiently that federal dollars are better spent elsewhere.
In a fact sheet released Wednesday, the White House said many of the targeted bodies promote radical climate policies, global governance, and ideological programs that conflict with U.S. sovereignty and economic strength.
The White House said American taxpayers have spent billions of dollars on such organizations with little return, while some of those groups criticize U.S. policies, advance agendas contrary to American values, or fail to achieve meaningful results despite large budgets.
Congressional Research Service reporting on U.S. contributions to the U.N. system has noted that American support is delivered through assessed dues for the U.N. regular budget and peacekeeping, along with voluntary contributions to agencies, funds, and programs, meaning funding withdrawals can have broad operational impacts even beyond the specific entities targeted.
The memorandum represents the administration's most expansive pullback to date from multilateral engagement, extending Trump's long-running argument that international commitments must produce measurable benefits for Americans and must not constrain U.S. decision-making.
The White House said Trump initiated the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement immediately upon returning to office, framing both steps as necessary to restore national sovereignty over public health and energy policy.
The White House also said Trump notified the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development on day 1 that its global tax deal has no force or effect in the U.S. while directing an investigation into whether foreign tax rules are extraterritorial or disproportionately target American companies.
The administration's broader posture has included steps to leave or defund politically charged U.N. bodies, including a February 2025 executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council and prohibiting any future U.S. funding for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for the Near East.
The White House said Wednesday's memorandum is designed to save taxpayer money and refocus resources toward America First priorities such as infrastructure, military readiness, and border security, while ending what it views as subsidized hostility toward U.S. interests.
The White House did not immediately provide a detailed public roster of all 66 organizations covered by the withdrawal order, but said agencies have been instructed to wind down participation and funding consistent with the memorandum's directives.
The administration's push has drawn objections in prior, similar actions from outside experts and advocacy groups who argue that withdrawing from global institutions can reduce U.S. influence and weaken international coordination on cross-border challenges.
For instance, public health experts warned the administration's earlier move to pull out of the World Health Organization could weaken U.S. readiness for future outbreaks, with Georgetown University health-law professor Lawrence Gostin telling Kaiser Health News, "It'll isolate us diplomatically, and it'll isolate us in pandemic response."
Amnesty International USA criticized Trump's decision to withdraw from the U.N. Human Rights Council, with Amnesty's Amanda Klasing calling it "performative disregard for human rights" in a statement released by the group after the February 2025 order.
Financial analysts have also warned that a sweeping U.S. retreat from multilateral institutions could have consequences beyond diplomacy, with Reuters reporting that S&P Global multilateral-lender analyst Alexander Ekbom said a U.S. withdrawal from the World Bank would be "unprecedented" and could threaten the institution's top-tier credit ratings.
Supporters of the administration's approach argue the president is correcting decades of U.S. overcommitment to bureaucratic international bodies that do not serve American workers, taxpayers, or national security.
They argue that in an era of great-power competition, Washington should deploy resources toward bilateral leverage, hard-power deterrence, and direct investment at home rather than underwriting institutions that often turn against U.S. interests.
Critics counter that U.S. exits can reduce America's ability to shape global standards and norms, while leaving strategic space for rivals to dominate rulemaking in arenas ranging from public health to development policy.
The White House said the withdrawals align with Trump's longstanding America First doctrine and reflect an effort to ensure every international relationship is judged by outcomes that advance U.S. security, sovereignty, and economic strength.
Implementation now shifts to the federal agencies directed to halt participation and funding, setting up a new phase of scrutiny over which programs are affected, what statutory obligations remain, and how quickly the U.S. can unwind decades of multilateral commitments.
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