UNITED NATIONS — The Trump administration says it has secured more than $1 billion in cuts to United Nations budgets in just six months, calling the reductions evidence that an institution long considered resistant to change is finally beginning to reform.
The latest milestone came June 30, when all 193 U.N. member states approved a peacekeeping budget of approximately $5.1 billion for the coming fiscal year — about $550 million, or 9.7%, less than the previous year.
Combined with a 15% reduction to the U.N.’s regular budget approved in December, U.S. officials say the agreements amount to more than $1 billion in cuts to assessed U.N. budgets, a level they describe as unprecedented.
INTERNATIONAL ‘DEEP STATE’ PRIME TARGET OF TRUMP-STYLE CANDIDATE FOR UN CHIEF
Assessed budgets are funded through mandatory contributions charged to member states under a formula based largely on the size of their economies.
“On June 30th, with U.S. leadership, all 193 countries came together again for the second time in six months,” U.S. Ambassador for U.N. Management and Reform Jeff Bartos told Fox News Digital. “We’ve achieved over a billion dollars of savings in six months, which is unprecedented. Any one cut would be unprecedented. The totality of the reforms is monumental.”
The agreement comes as the United Nations faces mounting financial pressure and prepares for a leadership transition in 2027, with Secretary-General António Guterres set to leave office at the end of his second term. At the same time, the Trump administration has made reform a central pillar of its U.N. strategy, arguing the organization has become overly bureaucratic and inefficient.
In response to questions from Fox News Digital, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric confirmed that the peacekeeping budget was reduced by roughly $550 million and the regular budget by 15%, describing both as “unprecedented reductions.”
US URGES DONORS TO ABANDON UNRWA FUNDING AS UN DEFENDS AGENCY’S MISSION
Bartos argues the reforms reflect sustained pressure from the Trump administration and months of negotiations led by the U.S. Mission.
“The new budget, this reformed budget, the enhanced efficiency changes the culture of how the U.N. looks at peacekeeping,” Bartos said. “Every dollar has to achieve impact on the ground.”
He pointed to the U.N. Mission in South Sudan as an example, saying the United States worked to streamline the mission’s mandate before reducing its budget accordingly.
Another reform highlighted by the administration changes how the U.N. handles unused budget credits.
Until now, U.N. financial rules required the organization to return unspent funds to member states even if those contributions had never actually been paid, a practice critics said worsened the organization’s recurring liquidity crisis.
The General Assembly voted on June 30 to introduce, on a four-year trial basis, a new methodology under which unspent funds will be returned only when backed by cash actually received.
Bartos said the change could save the organization more than $1 billion over the next three years. That projected figure is separate from the more than $1 billion in budget reductions already approved over the past six months.
He called the change another example of “common-sense” reform and said it could save the organization more than $1 billion over the next three years.
The United Nations likewise welcomed the change, though officials noted it had been a long-standing priority of Guterres.
TRUMP CELEBRATES AFTER UN CLIMATE COMMITTEE MOVES AWAY FROM ITS MOST EXTREME GLOBAL WARMING SCENARIO
“I have been pushing for this reform for almost a decade,” Guterres said after the vote. He described the previous system as a “Kafkaesque cycle” in which the organization was expected “to give back cash that did not exist.”
Dujarric said the reform would allow the U.N. to manage resources “in a more predictable and responsible way” while helping ensure operational continuity, particularly for peacekeeping missions.
Bartos insists the latest budget agreements are only the beginning.
Among the administration’s next priorities are reforms to staff compensation, employee benefits and the U.N. pension system, areas he argues consume resources that could otherwise support humanitarian operations and peacekeeping missions.
“We’re going to continue to see us push whether it’s on benefits, whether it’s on staff compensation, whether it’s on the pension system,” Bartos said. “There’s massive numbers of additional reforms that our team is working on right now.”
He also suggested reform will remain a central issue as member states begin selecting the next secretary-general.
“We’re going to select the next secretary-general,” Bartos said. “That reform momentum that has been growing over the last 15, 18 months… you’ll see that continuing in 2027 with the new secretary-general.”
Trump administration touts more than $1B in UN budget cuts as reform push gains momentum 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-07-19 17:08:34 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
