President Donald Trump has ordered the United States to withdraw from 66 international organizations, including major UN agencies, hastening Washington's retreat from multilateral cooperation.
Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday directing US departments to end participation in and funding for 31 United Nations entities and 35 non-UN organizations "as soon as possible," according to a White House release.
These organizations span climate change, conservation, counterterrorism and human rights, among other fields.
Trump also ordered the withdrew from 35 other international bodies, including: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that some of the institutions were working in agendas contrary to the interests of the United States.
Many of the organizations are UN-affiliated agencies and panels focused on climate, labor, migration and social policy areas the administration has labelled "woke" or says promotes diversity.
The US president has argued that international agencies often fail to US interests.
The move follows Trump's earlier decisions to quit the Paris climate accord, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN's cultural organization UNESCO, and to cut funding for UN agencies including the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
Last year, the US slashed foreign assistance through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), forcing several UN bodies to scale back operations primarily impacting developing countries and global public health.
Trump's decision to quit a foundational climate treaty and the world's leading climate science body comes amid an aggressive push for fossil fuels at home while repeatedly dismissing climate change as a "hoax" and renewable energy as a "scam."
On Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his support for fossil fuels, writing on Truth Social that Venezuela would be "turning over" between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, days after US forces attacked Venezuela and kidnapped its leader Nicolas Maduro.
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