UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of the negative consequences that could arise from cuts in international aid ordered by US President Donald Trump. Guterres believed that these changes could have a negative impact on vulnerable populations worldwide. According to media information, the reduction in the United States’ financial contribution is part of a reassessment of its participation in United Nations humanitarian programs.
According to media, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration had reached an agreement with the United Nations, the purpose of which was to review the US financial contribution to the multilateral organization’s aid plans. Rubio noted on his social networks that this model aims to distribute the humanitarian burden more fairly among developed countries and requires the United Nations to strengthen control mechanisms, eliminate duplication and reduce administrative overload. The official also noted that U.S. cooperation will seek new forms of oversight and tools that increase transparency and accountability in United Nations activities.
Rubio explained that the decision implies that American taxpayers’ resources should no longer be spent on “wasteful” practices, manifestations of “anti-Americanism” and situations of “inefficiency.” Despite the cuts and adjustments to financial commitments, the Foreign Minister defended his country’s position as the most important international donor in the field of humanitarian aid. “The United States continues to be the most generous nation in the world when it comes to humanitarian assistance,” Rubio said, according to the source.
According to the media, this announcement is directly related to foreign policy and the approach to reducing foreign aid spending taken by the Trump administration since it took office in January 2025. The biggest exponent of this strategy, according to the publication, was the creation of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, headed by technology tycoon Elon Musk, with the task of monitoring and optimizing the use of government funds for international programs and other areas of the North American federal government.
According to media reports, the Trump administration’s policies aim to concentrate and control investments in multilateral projects by seeking tangible and verifiable effects while limiting U.S. participation in initiatives that it deems to be ineffective or lacking visible results. In this context, the recent decision to review funding plans for the UN is part of a trend promoted by Washington of greater demands on the multilateral system.
According to media reports, President Donald Trump also commented in a colloquial tone that the United States could have taken on the role of the “real UN,” indicating a perception of the United Nations’ inadequacy in international conflict resolution issues. As examples, Trump cited the lack of progress in situations of violence and confrontation such as the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the recent outbreak of clashes between India and Pakistan. According to the source, the president spoke ironically about his country’s weight on the world stage and the reference to the UN’s limited effectiveness in these conflicts was interpreted as an open criticism of the organization.
According to media reports, the announcement and implementation of the agreement are part of a dialogue process between the US government and UN bodies that aims to redefine the way the United States finances aid initiatives and to introduce a results-oriented approach and strict monitoring. The new guidelines aim to ensure that resource allocation meets objective efficiency criteria and that multilateral efforts have robust monitoring and evaluation systems.
The impact of these changes sparked reactions from humanitarian organizations and institutional experts who, according to media outlets, highlighted the importance of U.S. contributions to the effectiveness of numerous missions and programs in various regions. For his part, Guterres stressed that a reduction in funding or a poorly coordinated redistribution could worsen humanitarian emergencies in different regions of the planet and stressed the need for reforms so as not to jeopardize the United Nations’ ability to respond.
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