Trump Supports UN Remaining in America as the International Body Warns of ‘Imminent Financial Collapse’

Contrary to speculation that President Trump is looking to create an alternative United Nations with his Board of Peace, the commander-in-chief is offering his support for the beleaguered body said to be facing “imminent financial collapse.”Despite operational woes worsened by unpaid dues, including $2.2 billion committed by the United States, the president said in an interview Sunday that he wants to see the United Nations succeed in its adopted New York City, with America’s influence.“The U.N. is not leaving New York, and it’s not leaving the United States because the U.N. has tremendous potential,” Mr. Trump told Politico, noting that he could fix the organization’s unpaid collections problem if its head would just ask.“If they came to Trump and told him, I’d get everybody to pay up, just like I got NATO to pay up, right? All I have to do is call these countries. If the head of the U.N. would call the president of the United States, I would make the appropriate phone calls and they would send checks within minutes,” he said.On Friday, the secretary-general of the organization’s 193-member nations, Antonio Guterres, sent a letter to all ambassadors warning them of the organization’s “imminent financial collapse” if countries don’t pay their dues. “Either all member states honor their obligations to pay in full and on time — or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse,” he wrote.On December 30, the United Nations passed a $3.45 billion budget for the 2026 year, dropping its staff by 19 percent, or 2,900 positions, and reducing expenses by 15 percent. The shortfall in its operating budget is primarily the result of dues unpaid by America valued at nearly $2.2 billion, and including $767 million for operational expenses and $1.8 billion for peacekeeping operations. Venezuela and Mexico also owe a collective $50 million in back dues that are unlikely to be collected any time soon. A UN spokesman told reporters Friday that the headquarters in Turtle Bay would be forced to close in August if dues aren’t paid.In the first week of January, Mr. Trump signed a memorandum directing the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organizations that the White House says “no longer serve American interests.” That included 31 UN agencies, which were in addition to last year’s decision to vacate the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Relief and Works Agency for the Near East, and its educational, scientific, and cultural organization, UNESCO.Many of Mr. Trump’s MAGA coalition supports kicking the United Nations out of New York, saying that the body is at odds with American values and frequently passes resolutions opposite of its interests.A poll released in September by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that 62 percent of Democrats in the United States viewed strengthening U.S. cooperation and compromise with the United Nations as “very important,” while just 32 percent of Independents and 29 percent of Republicans felt that way.Fashioning himself as the peace president, Mr. Trump recently created a Board of Peace, an experimental independent body of nations committed to peace-keeping, and — with U.N. Security Council approval — responsibility for creating a post-October 7 Gaza Strip, complete with an independent, transitional government and free of a militarized Hamas. Mr. Trump offered initial members an unlimited membership on the three-year project if they paid $1 billion upfront. Acknowledging that he won’t be president forever, Mr. Trump said he would keep the United Nations so it can take over where he leaves off. “When I’m no longer around to settle wars, the U.N. can,” he told Politico.

Trump Supports UN Remaining in America as the International Body Warns of ‘Imminent Financial Collapse’

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