Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended President Donald Trump‘s withdrawal from a myriad of international organizations, saying they are exemplary of an “outdated” multilateralism largely funded by U.S. taxpayers.
Trump issued a memorandum earlier this week titled “Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States.” The memo withdraws the United States from over 60 organizations, some of which are affiliated with the United Nations, with Trump determining they run “contrary to the interests” of the U.S.
“President Trump’s withdrawal from 66 international organizations sends a clear message that it is no longer acceptable to invest the American people’s hard-earned tax dollars in institutions that cannot demonstrate results, accountability, or respect for our national interests,” Rubio posted on X.
Rubio wrote in a Substack post that the changes don’t mean “America is turning its back on the world.”
“We are simply rejecting an outdated model of multilateralism- one that treats the American taxpayer as the world’s underwriter for a sprawling architecture of global governance,” he wrote.
The organizations that the Trump administration withdrew from cover areas like counterterrorism, climate change, energy, and human rights.
The withdrawal from the organizations comes after the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development, a top foreign aid organization with the U.S. government. Rubio and the administration have tried to cut costs throughout the government, often targeting non-ideologically aligned entities.
“The Trump Administration is demanding real results from the institutions we fund and participate in, and we stand ready to lead a campaign for reform,” he wrote.
“President Trump has been clear, including through this week’s Presidential Memorandum that he will not allow international organizations to undermine the United States and limit our national sovereignty, our energy independence, our economic prosperity, our democracy, and our constitutional freedoms. He will not allow the United States to continue funding a failed model that refuses or proves impossible to reform,” he added.
The U.N. previously condemned the United States’s exit from their affiliated entities.
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“The Secretary-General regrets the announcement by the White House regarding the United States’ decision to withdraw from a number of United Nations entities,” a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
“As we have consistently underscored, assessed contributions to the United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States,” they added.
