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The Trump administration announced a $2 billion pledge for United Nations aid on Monday and warned organizations must “adapt, shrink, or die” under its reforms, according to a statement from the State Department.
The new package comes as the administration clamps down on traditional foreign aid and pressures aid agencies to meet stricter standards for efficiency, accountability and oversight.
“Individual UN organizations will need to adapt, shrink, or die,” the statement said after describing what it called “several important benefits for the United States and American taxpayers.”
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Aid trucks of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) deliver aid near Gaza City on June 19. (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The United States is making an initial commitment of $2 billion to support life-saving relief efforts in many countries,” the State Department said.
The administration also said that the donation is expected to protect tens of millions of people from hunger, disease, and the destruction of war by 2026 alone, with a new model that will significantly reduce costs.
“Due to improved efficiency and prioritization of life-saving impacts, this new model is expected to save American taxpayers approximately $1.9 billion compared to outdated funding methods,” the statement said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the approach is aimed at forcing long-lasting changes in the UN system and reducing the US financial burden.
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“This new model will better share the UN’s humanitarian burden with other developed countries and will require the UN to cut back on bloat, eliminate duplication, and commit to stronger new impact, accountability, and monitoring mechanisms,” Rubio said on the X website.
The pledge is smaller than previous US donations, which officials said have grown to between $8 billion and $10 billion annually in voluntary humanitarian aid in recent years.
Administration officials said those funding levels were unsustainable and lacked accountability.
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Environmental and energy groups have called on the Trump administration to boycott the UN Climate Summit in November, according to a letter obtained exclusively by Fox Digital. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Jeremy Lewin, the State Department’s top foreign aid official, emphasized the administration’s position during a press conference in Geneva.
“The piggy bank is not open to organizations that just want to go back to the old system,” Lewin said in a statement. “President Trump has made it clear that the plan is dead.”
The financial commitment is part of the recently signed Cooperation Agreement between the US and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The agreement replaces project-by-project grants with pooled, flexible funds administered at the country or crisis level.
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Tom Fletcher, UN humanitarian chief and head of OCHA, welcomed the deal, calling it a major achievement. “It’s a very important historic contribution,” Fletcher said, according to the Associated Press.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz also said the deal would bring more focused, results-driven aid that aligns with US foreign policy interests, while the State Department warned future funding would depend on ongoing reforms.
