January 1, UN Scrambles for Cash After Trump Cuts

Wyatt’s Take

• The U.N. is warning of a financial crisis after U.S. funding cuts.
• President Trump slashed money to agencies he called wasteful and pressured others to pay their share.
• The U.N. says operations are at risk, but the U.S. calls it a management mess, not a money problem.

The United Nations says it’s nearly out of money, pointing the finger at unpaid dues and big cuts from America. U.N. leaders warn many programs could shut down without more cash from members.

“We are currently in survival mode, delivering under strain,” said U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk during a speech in Geneva.

President Trump slashed U.S. payments to the U.N., calling out waste and bias, while demanding that other countries step up. America led 193 countries to reduce U.N. spending by $570 million and cut almost 3,000 staff jobs.

The U.N. Human Rights Office says it needs $400 million just to keep functioning. Funding shortfalls are already forcing them to scale back. Most countries haven’t paid what they owe. The U.S. alone is on the hook for billions in budget and peacekeeping dues.

“The crisis is deepening, threatening programme delivery and risking financial collapse. And the situation will deteriorate further in the near future,” wrote Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

He urged all countries to pay up—or else rules might have to change to avoid what he called an “imminent financial collapse.”

President Trump refused to say if America would release any more money. He claimed, “If they came to Trump and told him, I’d get everybody to pay up, just like I got NATO to pay up. All I have to do is call these countries…they would send checks within minutes.”

The State Department says this isn’t a cash crisis, but one of bad management at the U.N. A spokesperson pointed to high U.N. salaries and a jump in senior jobs, plus expensive perks and meetings. “These misleading chicken-little complaints from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights complain about the United States remind us why President Trump decided to leave the Human Rights Council,” the spokesperson added.

The U.S. left the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2025, saying it protected abusers and didn’t serve our interests. More recently, the administration pulled out of climate groups linked to the U.N. for the same reasons.

Türk also criticized U.S. immigration policies, but the White House isn’t responding. The U.N. Human Rights Office hasn’t commented further either.

Get the facts and decide for yourself—should Americans shell out more to the U.N., or is it time for other countries to pay their way?

Wyatt Matters

Decisions on foreign aid hit home in Middle America, where folks work hard for every dollar. Money sent overseas should bring value to our country, not just fill a bureaucrat’s pocket. American taxpayers deserve transparency, not hidden handouts.

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