Trump has made a broadside attack against the United Nations, not only against some of its agencies, but also against the institution as a whole. On Feb. 4, Trump signed an executive order which announced the U.S. withdrawal of funding for the UNHCR and UNRWA, and said that it will review its membership in UNESCO. The U.S. was a founding member of the United Nations, the order notes. “But some of the UN’s agencies and bodies have drifted from this mission and instead act contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism.”
Additionally, the order specifies that the U.S. will conduct a review of all international organizations, including the UN, “to determine which organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States and whether such organizations, conventions, or treaties can be reformed.”
When Trump signed the Executive Order on Feb. 4, he told reporters: “I’ve always felt that the UN has tremendous potential. It’s not living up to that potential right now, it really hasn’t for a long time…. [I]t’s not being well run, to be honest, and they’re not doing the job. A lot of these conflicts that we’re working on should be settled, or at least we should have some help in settling them. We never seem to get help. That should be the primary purpose of the UN…. Iit’s got great potential, and based on the potential we’ll continue to go along with it, but they got to get their act together.”
