The administration of US President Donald Trump has pledged an extra $1.8 billion in humanitarian funding to the United Nations. However, the amount announced on Thursday remains far short of past US commitments to humanitarian aid, which totaled as high as $17 billion in fiscal year 2022.
The Trump administration sought to frame that smaller sum as evidence of its push for greater government efficiency. Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, described Trump’s goal as “bringing transparency to how American tax dollars are being used for humanitarian aid.”
Waltz added: “President Trump made clear from his first day in office that the days of accepting status-quo processes are over.” He said that in changing the US’s approach to UN spending, Trump hoped to help the international body “reform.”
The $1.8 billion announced on Thursday comes in addition to a $2 billion “anchor commitment” to humanitarian spending signed in December. But those funds were part of a memorandum wherein the Trump administration pushed the UN to pursue a “humanitarian reset,” criticizing the organization for “ideological creep” and “bureaucratic inefficiencies.”
Since returning to office for a second term in January 2025, Trump has initiated a pullback away from international aid commitments, slashing available funds and dismantling key government structures. Last July, his administration shuttered the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that for 2025, development assistance from the US dropped by 56.9 percent over 2024. Critics have warned that Trump’s efforts to scale back international aid could come at the expense of human rights, global safety and public health.
In a 42-page report issued on Thursday, Human Rights Watch called the “retreat in foreign funding” an “autocrat’s dream,” as it weakened international mechanisms for holding human rights abusers accountable. Sarah Yager, the Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The foreign aid cuts have made it harder to document human rights violations, protect communities at risk, and hold human rights abusers to account.”
Trump and his allies have framed the funding cuts as necessary to combat “waste, fraud and abuses” in the US federal government. Trump has also been an outspoken critic of the UN, denouncing the agency for failing to live up to its promises.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pressured the US to fulfill its commitments, rejecting any strings attached to overdue payments. “Assessed contributions are an obligation of member states. They are non-negotiable,” he said.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, emphasized that over 300 million people need support due to conflicts and disasters, but global funding is declining. Waltz dismissed criticisms that the US has walked away from aid, calling such claims “fake news.”
Source: www.aljazeera.com