Overview

• In a Sept. 23 General Assembly address, President Trump called the UN ineffective, labeled climate policy a “con job,” and urged an end to what he called UN-backed migration that encourages “open borders.”
• He defended Israel and criticized moves to recognize a Palestinian state, arguing such steps reward Hamas and complicate efforts to end the Gaza war.
• Recent U.S. actions include a July rescissions package that pulled back about $1 billion in UN funding, an August proposal to withhold over $1.4 billion in dues and peacekeeping, and planned further reductions in the 2026 budget.
• The administration has exited or cut funding to several UN entities, including the Human Rights Council, UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and UNRWA.
• Ambassador Michael Waltz urged the UN to “get back to basics,” pledged to confront “woke nonsense,” and emphasized keeping New York’s UN hub as a venue for U.S. diplomacy, as analysts noted a muted hall reaction and flagged contradictions in the U.S. approach.