The State Department says the US will not send ‘blank checks’ to the world’s ‘bosses’.
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The State Department announced on Saturday that the US “rejects an outdated model of multilateralism,” saying that the program has turned American taxpayers “underworld into global governance.”
Additionally, it said President Donald Trump’s recent order to withdraw the US from 66 international organizations showed that “the era of writing a blank check to international institutions is over.”
The move marks the latest in Trump’s broader “America First” agenda aimed at cutting spending the administration deems wasteful, ineffective or contrary to America’s interests.
“What we call the ‘international system’ is now riddled with hundreds of opaque international organizations, many with excessive authority, duplicative actions, inefficient results, and poor financial and ethical management,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a memo posted on the State Department’s Substack.
TRUMP IS GOING TO WITHDRAW FROM ’66’ WORLD UNION IN A ‘RUMBLED’ FACT ‘AMERICA FIRST’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio holds his year-end press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, December 19, 2025. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters)
“Even those that have done useful work have increasingly become inefficient authorities, platforms for political mobilization or instruments against the interests of our nation. These institutions not only bring results, they hinder the action of those who wish to address these problems,” added Rubio.
Rubio did not hold back in his criticism of the organizations, saying that continued US participation “would be abandoning our national mission.” Additionally, the secretary emphasized that this does not mean that the US is withdrawing from global leadership, rather it is rejecting what the administration sees as an outdated model of multilateralism.
The United Nations Headquarters building in New York City on July 16, 2024. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
On Wednesday, Trump signed a presidential memorandum ordering the US to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering departments and executive agencies to cease participation and funding of organizations the administration says no longer serve American interests.
The memo came less than a year after the order of February 4, 2025, which ordered Rubio, and the US representative to the United Nations, to conduct a review of “all international organizations under the government of which the United States is a member and provides any form of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations are opposed to the United States,” the United States said. The house.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio whispers to President Donald Trump, holding a note Rubio gave him, during an Antifa rally in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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The findings were presented to the president, who discussed them with his Cabinet before proceeding with the withdrawal of funds.
In a January 2026 memorandum, Trump said Rubio’s findings showed it was “against the interests of the US to remain a member of, participate in, or provide support” to the groups on the list.
Organizations affiliated with the UN included the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Organization for Gender Equality and the Advancement of Women and the UN Fund for Democracy, among others. Non-UN groups include the International Solar Alliance and the Global Forum on Migration and Development and others.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
