Overview
- The secretary‑general warned in a letter to all 193 member states that the U.N. could run out of money by July, calling the situation an imminent financial collapse.
- U.N. figures show the United States owes about $2.196 billion to the regular budget and $1.8 billion for peacekeeping, after failing to pay last year’s regular assessment and sharply reducing peacekeeping contributions.
- President Trump told POLITICO he could get other countries to pay “very easily” if asked but declined to say whether Washington will settle its arrears, and he insisted the U.N. will not leave New York.
- Operational austerity has begun, with reduced heating and shuttered escalators at offices, scaled‑back aid, closed maternal clinics in Afghanistan, reduced rations for Sudanese refugees, and fewer investigators for human rights abuses.
- Guterres highlighted structural strains, noting only 77% of assessed contributions were paid in 2025 and citing refund rules that forced returns of unspent funds—including $227 million—even when the cash was never received.