Donald Trump demands UN overhaul, US plans $850 million payment

Washington: The US government has notified Congress of its plans to pay USD 850 million of the several billion it owes to the United Nations, the largest payment the Trump administration would make to the world body since it demanded sweeping reforms in exchange for continued support as its largest donor.

The State Department laid out its plans to transfer USD 725 million as part of its dues to the regular UN budget and USD 125 million toward UN peacekeeping operations in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to notifications sent to lawmakers this month and obtained by The Associated Press.

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The US is behind on about USD 5 billion in dues related to its UN membership, with more than USD 2 billion owed toward the regular budget and USD 3 billion for peacekeeping operations, the United Nations says.

In February, the Trump administration made a single payment of USD 160 million shortly after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the institution was facing "imminent financial collapse" unless its financial rules were overhauled or all 193 member nations paid their dues, a message clearly directed at the United States.

President Donald Trump and his allies have spent the past year and a half demanding drastic changes across the UN, alarming many humanitarian workers and leading to severe reductions in programs and services.

Trump has publicly called out the world body for not living up to its potential. His administration did not pay anything to the United Nations in 2025, and it has withdrawn from UN organizations, including the World Health Organization and the cultural agency UNESCO, while pulling funding from dozens of others.

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The notices sent Aug. 4 - first reported by Reuters - received some initial pushback from Republicans on Capitol Hill who argued that the appropriations do not fully address the administration's concerns about what it claims is bloated UN staffing and ideological positions that run counter to Trump's anti-woke agenda.

In particular, a GOP congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because lawmakers have not yet decided how or if to respond to the notifications, said the notifications did not appear to be strong enough on the withholding of US assistance to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The US mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.