U.S. to commit $2 billion to U.N. humanitarian efforts, as foreign aid cuts continue

The U.S. will contribute $2 billion to U.N. humanitarian aid in 2026, the State Department said Monday, marking the latest cuts to foreign aid by the Trump administration.

The $2 billion commitment will be placed in a pooled fund that can be directed to nations or regions in crisis. Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Syria and Ukraine will reportedly be the first nations targeted for humanitarian aid assistance through the fund.

That structure is in line with U.S. demands that the U.N.’s humanitarian aid structure should be consolidated, with funds distributed to individual agencies. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, run by former British diplomat Tom Fletcher, began a “humanitarian reset” earlier this year to facilitate the change in structure.

In theory, the OCHA will “control the spigot” of humanitarian funds, deciding when and where to deliver them.  

“The agreement requires the U.N. to consolidate humanitarian functions to reduce bureaucratic overhead, unnecessary duplication, and ideological creep,” the State Department wrote in a statement. “Individual U.N. agencies will need to adapt, shrink, or die.”

The contribution marks yet another downgrade in U.S. spending on U.N. humanitarian aid. In 2025, the U.S. contributed about $3.38 billion to U.N. humanitarian efforts, down from the $14.1 billion the U.S. sent in 2024.

This month, the U.N. announced that it was seeking $23 billion in funding to meet its goals and reach more than 87 million people at risk worldwide. That request was down from the $47 billion the organization sought in 2025.

The downturn in funding comes as the Trump administration levels harsh criticism at the U.N. and openly questions the effectiveness of foreign aid programs. The White House has essentially eliminated the government’s primary foreign aid apparatus — the U.S. Agency for International Development, which critics said was exceptionally wasteful.

Additionally, President Trump’s insistence that NATO members pay for their own defense has led some European nations to increase their military spending at the expense of their U.N. humanitarian aid contributions.

The U.N. announced in June that cuts to funding would cause severe service reductions, which could have devastating consequences for millions. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said at least 11 million refugees could lose access to aid over the next year.