U.S. plans to pay $850 million of the $5 billion it owes the United Nations
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
- The Trump administration plans to send $850 million to the United Nations, a fraction of the roughly $5 billion Washington owes after years of withheld dues as it demands sweeping changes.
- The payment, including funds for Haiti and Congo peacekeeping, comes as the U.N. warns of financial strain after a year with no U.S. contributions and deep cuts to global programs.
- Some congressional Republicans are balking at the plan, arguing it fails to curb what they call bloated U.N. bureaucracy and does not sufficiently target aid to the Palestinian refugee agency.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has notified Congress of its plans to pay $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 changes in exchange for continued support as its largest donor.
The State Department laid out its plans to transfer $725 million as part of its dues to the regular U.N. budget and $125 million toward U.N. peacekeeping operations in Haiti and Congo, according to notifications sent to lawmakers this month and obtained by the Associated Press.
The U.S. is behind on about $5 billion in dues related to its U.N. membership, with more than $2 billion owed toward the regular budget and $3 billion for peacekeeping operations, the United Nations says.
In February, the Trump administration made a single payment of $160 million shortly after U.N. Secretary-General António 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 Trump and his allies have spent the last year and a half demanding drastic changes across the U.N., alarming many humanitarian workers and leading to severe reductions in programs and services.
Trump has often criticized the world body, accusing it of not living up to its potential. His administration did not pay anything to the United Nations in 2025, and it has withdrawn from U.N. organizations, including the World Health Organization and the cultural agency UNESCO, while pulling funding from dozens of others.
The notices sent Aug. 4 — first reported by Reuters — received some initial resistance from Republicans on Capitol Hill who argued that the appropriations do not fully address the administration’s concerns about what it claims is bloated U.N. staffing and ideological positions that run counter to Trump’s agenda.
In particular, a GOP congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because lawmakers have not yet decided how or if to respond, said the notices did not appear to be strong enough on the withholding of U.S. assistance to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
The U.S. mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amiri and Lee write for the Associated Press. Amiri reported from New York.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
It started as a ploy to scare Texas out of redrawing its congressional map and ended with California voters approving a new map of their own, one that could hat could help alter the balance of power in Washington.
William Mulholland was the water boss who made L.A. possible. His reputation gave him unchecked authority as a dam builder. In 1928, that led to one of America’s deadliest disasters--and the question of whether it was a crime.
