During his address to the United Nations General Assembly this week, President Trump denounced the UN for its uselessness in ending wars, stating that the world organization is not living up to its potential and pointedly asked, “What is the purpose of the United Nations?”
This is a question many Americans have asked recently as they watched President Trump and his foreign policy team try to end wars around the world while the UN did nothing but hold do-nothing meetings, issue “empty words” about global conflicts, and pass anti-Israel resolutions.
This, of course, is not a new problem. The UN has been corrupt and strongly anti-U.S. and anti-Israel for most of its existence. Like President Trump, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick once condemned the UN for the “bizarre reversal” of its founding intent to resolve conflicts. During the Cold War, the UN was dominated by an anti-Western/anti-Israel Third World-Soviet bloc alliance. Today, it is dominated by China and woke anti-U.S./anti-Israel ideologies.
Trump said his exasperation with the UN has also been driven by its obsession with climate change and “the failed experiment of open borders.” The president stated that these issues are destroying many nations.
Trump called climate change the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and “the green energy scam.” He also slammed UN aid to migrants, claiming the world organization is “funding an assault on Western countries,” and noted that the UN in 2024 “budgeted $372 million in cash assistance to support an estimated 624,000 migrants journeying into the United States.” The president concluded, “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders.”
Although Trump’s views on these topics are commonly held in the U.S., they are sacrilege at the UN and were received with gasps and grumbling in the General Assembly Hall—a clear sign of how out of touch the United Nations is with the American people.
Trump had harsh words for many nations that are making it harder to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. He criticized moves by several states to recognize a Palestinian state as rewarding Hamas. The president also criticized nations that are buying energy from Russia, noting that “China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing [Ukraine] war by continuing to purchase Russian oil. But inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products.”
Trump’s frustration with the UN has led his administration to reduce U.S. funding and withdraw from several UN agencies. The administration is withholding part of America’s 2025 UN dues. This includes a congressional rescissions package passed in July that pulled back approximately $1 billion in previously approved UN funding and an August 2025 proposal to withhold over $1.4 billion for UN dues and peacekeeping operations.
The administration’s 2026 budget proposes more cuts in U.S. funding for UN peacekeeping and pauses other UN contributions.
The Trump administration has also withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the China-controlled World Health Organization (WHO). The Trump administration has also cut off funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), an organization accused of backing Hamas.
Ambassador Waltz Suggests a Way Ahead for Trump 2.0 and the United Nations
Michael Waltz, President Trump’s newly confirmed ambassador to the United Nations, expanded on the president’s criticisms when he said in response to a press question on what changes are needed at the UN, “They need to stop all of this woke nonsense.” Waltz explained that the United Nations has seven agencies focused on climate change and formed a “George Floyd Commission” to investigate the massive riots in the U.S. during the summer of 2020. Ambassador Waltz said the UN must “get back to basics” by working to stop and prevent wars. He also called on the UN to start helping President Trump craft peace deals.
But Waltz indicated that despite the UN’s many flaws, it still has value for the U.S.
According to Waltz, there needs to be one place in the world where all nations can get together and talk. He noted that President Trump had 150 world leaders in attendance at his UN General Assembly speech, listening to his vision on immigration, energy independence, and world peace.
Ambassador Waltz said that the UN headquarters in New York City is beneficial for U.S. peace efforts because it has made the city a place where U.S. diplomats can engage with several countries that do not have embassies in Washington but maintain diplomatic missions to the UN, such as Venezuela and North Korea.
Overall, Waltz stressed that the UN should be a forum where the Trump administration “can get things done” to promote peace.
I believe Ambassador Waltz previewed what the second Trump administration’s strategy on the UN will be. It is not going to withdraw from the world organization, except for a handful of exceptionally biased and corrupt UN agencies. Trump officials will fight corruption and politicization in the UN with tough rhetoric and by withholding U.S. funding. I expect Waltz to lead an aggressive U.S. effort in all UN organizations to end woke ideology and promote ethical and responsible management.
Waltz indicated that, despite its many flaws, the Trump administration sees the United Nations as a useful forum for discussion and to promote U.S. peace efforts and national security policies. I believe this is the right approach. I look forward to President Trump using the UN General Assembly next year to press world leaders to support his peace efforts and to call them out again on the radical climate change agenda, out-of-control migration, and other woke policies.
Fred Fleitz previously served as National Security Council chief of staff, a CIA analyst, and a House Intelligence Committee staff member. He is the Vice Chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security.