The Trump administration is working to deflate a bloated and ineffective United Nations with massive budget cuts, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz told lawmakers Tuesday, while advocating for a “back to basics” model for the international organization.
Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Waltz cast the U.N. as having enormous potential but failing to maintain global peace while rapidly expanding its bureaucracy.
“Its budget has quadrupled in terms of assessment and voluntary giving over the last 25 years, yet we have not seen a quadrupling of peace. War rages, dictatorships are modern, human rights agencies and the bureaucracy have grown, and the results have left,” Mr. Waltz told the committee.
His comments align with the Trump administration’s desire to slash funding for international organizations over the past year. Last year, the U.S. cut its U.N. humanitarian aid funding from $17 billion to roughly $2 billion.
Historically, the U.S. has been the largest financial contributor to the U.N., responsible for at least 22% of its regular yearly budget.
The administration also officially withdrew from more than 30 U.N. entities in January, including the Framework Convention on Climate Change, U.N. Women, U.N. Democracy Fund and the International Law Commission.
The pullback in U.S. financial support likely contributed to the reduction in the U.N.’s operational budget. In December, the U.N. General Assembly approved a $3.45 bill budget for 2026, reflecting a 15% reduction from 2025 and a 19% staffing reduction.
Mr. Waltz added that many of the entities the Trump administration has defunded or withdrawn from were largely ineffective, duplicative or in some cases working directly against U.S. interests.
But Mr. Waltz and Jeff Bartos, ambassador to the United Nations for Management and Reform, praised the U.N.’s food assistance programs.
“President Trump’s answer was clear when he nominated me for the job. The U.N. has potential, but it needs to do its job,” Mr. Waltz said. “So my charge is to get the U.N. back to basics. End conflicts, keep the peace, and deliver life-saving assistance.”
The push for U.N. reform comes as China labors to play a leading role in multilateral diplomacy. China is the second largest contributor to the U.N.’s budget and has nearly doubled its staffing at the agency over the past decade, while U.S. representation has declined.
China is one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and has used its position to stymie U.S. interests. Most recently, China vetoed a Bahrain-backed resolution to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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