Trump walks away from ‘woke’ world bodies, slashes multiple U.N. agencies — even those battling violence against children

President Donald Trump’s latest executive order will certainly be the most damaging to the international community since taking office for a second term. The administration has now officially frozen funding for dozens of U.N. agencies, which it described as “woke,” focusing on climate, labor, migration, and even protection against child violence.

The original was made by the Department of State, which declared 66 international organizations “wasteful, ineffective, and harmful.” In the official press release, the agency wrote, “The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity.”

This comes as Sec. Marco Rubio is stuck in a public relations crisis, where he is at odds with the United Nations concerning the administration’s abduction of Nicolas Maduro and its subsequent announcement of an intention to exploit the Latin American nation’s oil reserves.

The Trump administration had already previously cut funding for UNESCO and the World Health Organization, arguing that they no longer align with Trump’s agenda. UNESCO focuses on the preservation of world heritage sites and history, which Trump may not see the function in preserving in the first place, while the World Health Organization’s vaccine mandates on diseases like measles and its stance on autism may also be contrary to what the Trump administration has been preaching to MAGA.

According to NBC, U.N. officials have long predicted this. From their perspective, the Trump administration has been shifting toward a form of governance where it is more about might and less about expertise. Daniel Forti, head of U.N. affairs at the International Crisis Group, said, “I think what we’re seeing is the crystallization of the U.S. approach to multilateralism, which is ‘my way or the highway.’ It’s a very clear vision of wanting international cooperation on Washington’s own terms.”

Sec. Rubio expressed that the Trump administration has been demonstrating, through this action and the defunding of USAID, that it is more interested in working with national governments than with nongovernmental organizations, better known as NGOs.

Reportedly, the Trump administration is instead looking for the U.N. to focus the U.S. taxpayer money it receives on expanding American influence. The administration has identified countries like China as competition in certain U.N. initiatives, such as the International Telecommunication Union, the International Maritime Organization, and the International Labor Organization.

Another international organization the U.S. is leaving is the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is the latest initiative by the Trump administration to distance itself from any climate-protective action. The agency has been instrumental in investing in research on renewable energy, such as solar and battery-powered vehicles, both of which have been big influences on how companies like Tesla can compete globally with Chinese companies like BYD.

Former White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said, “This administration is forfeiting our country’s ability to influence trillions of dollars in investments, policies, and decisions that would have advanced our economy and protected us from costly disasters wreaking havoc on our country.”