Trump Leaves from UNCTAD, ITC and UN University, Undermines WTO in 15 Dec Communication

Key Points / Summary:

· President Donald Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum on January 7, 2026, directing the immediate withdrawal of the United States from a wide range of international organizations, UN bodies, and multilateral forums deemed contrary to U.S. interests.

· The decision follows a review mandated under Executive Order 14199 (February 4, 2025), conducted by the Secretary of State in consultation with the U.S. Representative to the United Nations.

· Trump stated that continued membership, participation, or funding of the listed entities does not serve U.S. strategic, economic, or political interests.

Scope of Withdrawal:

· 35 non-UN organizations, including bodies focused on:

o Climate and environment (IPCC, IRENA, International Solar Alliance, IUCN)

o Democracy, rule of law, and governance

o Energy, mining, biodiversity, migration, and cyber cooperation

o Regional security and counterterrorism (Global Counterterrorism Forum, piracy agreements)

· 31 UN entities, including:

o Major UN economic and regional commissions under ECOSOC

o Climate, gender, population, oceans, water, and urban development agencies

o Peacebuilding institutions and human rights–related special representatives

o UNCTAD, UNFCCC, UN Women, UN Population Fund, and the UN Register of Conventional Arms

Implementation:

· All executive departments and agencies are instructed to cease participation and funding as soon as legally permissible.

· For UN entities, withdrawal primarily involves ending participation and financial support, subject to U.S. law.

· The Secretary of State will issue further guidance and publish the memorandum in the Federal Register.

Policy Significance:

· The move reinforces the Trump administration’s unilateral, sovereignty-first foreign policy, rejecting multilateralism and consensus-driven global governance.

· The memorandum leaves open the possibility of additional withdrawals, as the State Department’s review is ongoing.

[ABS News Service/08.01.2026]

Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States

Presidential Memoranda

January 7, 2026

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct:

Section 1. Purpose. (a) On February 4, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14199 (Withdrawing the United States from and Ending Funding to Certain United Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to All International Organizations). That Executive Order directed the Secretary of State, in consultation with the United States Representative to the United Nations, to conduct a review of all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States. The Secretary of State has reported his findings as required by Executive Order 14199.

(b) I have considered the Secretary of State’s report and, after deliberating with my Cabinet, have determined that it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support to the organizations listed in section 2 of this memorandum.

(c) Consistent with Executive Order 14199 and pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to take immediate steps to effectuate the withdrawal of the United States from the organizations listed in section 2 of this memorandum as soon as possible. For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law.

(d) My review of further findings of the Secretary of State remains ongoing.

Sec. 2. Organizations from Which the United States Shall Withdraw.

(a) Non-United Nations Organizations:

(i) 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact;

(ii) Colombo Plan Council;

(iii) Commission for Environmental Cooperation;

(iv) Education Cannot Wait;

(v) European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats;

(vi) Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories;

(vii) Freedom Online Coalition;

(viii) Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund;

(ix) Global Counterterrorism Forum;

(x) Global Forum on Cyber Expertise;

(xi) Global Forum on Migration and Development;

(xii) Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research;

(xiii) Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development;

(xiv) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;

(xv) Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services;

(xvi) International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property;

(xvii) International Cotton Advisory Committee;

(xviii) International Development Law Organization;

(xix) International Energy Forum;

(xx) International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies;

(xxi) International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance;

(xxii) International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law;

(xxiii) International Lead and Zinc Study Group;

(xxiv) International Renewable Energy Agency;

(xxv) International Solar Alliance;

(xxvi) International Tropical Timber Organization;

(xxvii) International Union for Conservation of Nature;

(xxviii) Pan American Institute of Geography and History;

(xxix) Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation;

(xxx) Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia;

(xxxi) Regional Cooperation Council;

(xxxii) Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century;

(xxxiii) Science and Technology Center in Ukraine;

(xxxiv) Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme; and

(xxxv) Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.

(b) United Nations (UN) Organizations:

(i) Department of Economic and Social Affairs;

(ii) UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) — Economic Commission for Africa;

(iii) ECOSOC — Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean;

(iv) ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific;

(v) ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia;

(vi) International Law Commission;

(vii) International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals;

(viii) International Trade Centre;

(ix) Office of the Special Adviser on Africa;

(x) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict;

(xi) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict;

(xii) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children;

(xiii) Peacebuilding Commission;

(xiv) Peacebuilding Fund;

(xv) Permanent Forum on People of African Descent;

(xvi) UN Alliance of Civilizations;

(xvii) UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries;

(xviii) UN Conference on Trade and Development;

(xix) UN Democracy Fund;

(xx) UN Energy;

(xxi) UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women;

(xxii) UN Framework Convention on Climate Change;

(xxiii) UN Human Settlements Programme;

(xxiv) UN Institute for Training and Research;

(xxv) UN Oceans;

(xxvi) UN Population Fund;

(xxvii) UN Register of Conventional Arms;

(xxviii) UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination;

(xxix) UN System Staff College;

(xxx) UN Water; and

(xxxi) UN University.

Sec. 3. Implementation Guidance. The Secretary of State shall provide additional guidance as needed to agencies when implementing this memorandum.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d) The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

DONALD J. TRUMP

The withdrawals include bodies focused on security, energy, international law, counterterrorism and arms control, even as rivals such as China and Russia remain members. Critics warn the decision could create strategic vacuums for U.S. adversaries, a concern previously raised by the Biden administration. The move builds on earlier Trump-era exits from UNESCO, the World Health Organization and the U.N. Human Rights Council, underscoring a broader rejection of multilateralism and coalition-based global governance.

The United Nations did not immediately comment on the United States’ severing relationships with some of its organizations.

An executive order, signed by Mr. Trump on Wednesday, follows a broader vision of American foreign policy that shuns the consensus of nations and building coalitions, focusing almost solely on projecting American power and dominance.

But Mr. Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from international bodies stands out even when compared with the actions of other regional and world powers that are skeptical of international agreements on democracy, climate or human rights. Biden administration officials had argued that a withdrawal from those bodies would create a vacuum for U.S. rivals to exploit.

For example, China and Russia are both members of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, the International Energy Forum and the International Renewable Energy Agency, as well as the U.N.’s International Law Commission, Peacebuilding Commission, Alliance of Civilizations and the Register of Conventional Arms. The United States withdrew from all of them on Wednesday.

Many of the organizations listed in Mr. Trump’s executive order also do not appear to require direct membership from nations, but the move seemed to signal more broadly that the Trump administration was likely to refuse to cooperate with them.

Mr. Trump has already pulled the United States out of many significant U.N. organizations, including UNESCO, the U.N.’s cultural agency; the World Health Organization; and the U.N. Human Rights Council.

USTR Adds

The White House argued that many international institutions have shifted from pragmatic cooperation toward what it described as a “globalist” agenda, including DEI, gender equity, and climate-related mandates, while delivering little tangible benefit to American taxpayers. The administration emphasized it will no longer commit US funds, diplomatic capital, or legitimacy to organizations deemed ineffective or contrary to US interests.

The review of additional international organizations is ongoing, with the administration stating it will pursue international cooperation selectively, based on clear benefits to the American people.

Withdrawal from Wasteful, Ineffective, or Harmful International Organizations

Today (07.01.2026), in furtherance of Executive Order 14199, President Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organizations identified as part of the Trump Administration’s review of wasteful, ineffective, and harmful international organizations. Review of additional international organizations pursuant to Executive Order 14199 remains ongoing.

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. President Trump is clear: It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it. The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over.

As this list begins to demonstrate, what started as a pragmatic framework of international organizations for peace and cooperation has morphed into a sprawling architecture of global governance, often dominated by progressive ideology and detached from national interests. From DEI mandates to “gender equity” campaigns to climate orthodoxy, many international organizations now serve a globalist project rooted in the discredited fantasy of the “End of History.” These organizations actively seek to constrain American sovereignty. Their work is advanced by the same elite networks—the multilateral “NGO-plex”— that we have begun dismantling through the closure of USAID.

We will not continue expending resources, diplomatic capital, and the legitimizing weight of our participation in institutions that are irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests. We reject inertia and ideology in favor of prudence and purpose. We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not.