In a sweeping executive order issued on Jan. 7, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from 35 non-UN international organizations and 31 UN organizations. The order ends U.S. participation in the bodies, withdraws funding to the extent permitted by law, and signals the Trump approach to international relations. The organizations include almost a dozen related to climate change or environmentalism.
The White House presents the order as a defense of U.S. sovereignty, arguing that many organizations exert indirect influence over domestic policy or advance agendas misaligned with national interests. But some of the organizations play quiet but influential roles in setting global standards and coordinating policy. A U.S. withdrawal will not eliminate the rules these bodies promulgate, but it will remove U.S. influence over how those rules are written.
