The Trump administration has informed Congress of its intention to pay $725 million to the United Nations, a congressional notification seen by Reuters showed, a move aid experts said was a welcome step towards paying billions in dues owed.
The administration has criticized the global body for not living up to its potential and slashed funding to many U.N. agencies. When asked about the planned payment, a U.S. official said any payments will be contingent on continued reforms of the organization and added that the U.S. has not transferred any funds as of Friday.
The allocation of funds – mentioned in an August 4 State Department notification letter to Congress that has not been previously reported – comes ahead of an expected speech by U.S. President Donald Trump to the U.N. General Assembly in New York next month.
‘It keeps the ship afloat a little longer’
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this year that the U.N. faced “imminent financial collapse” due to unpaid contributions from member states, and the global body has brought in large budget cuts.
“Over the past six months, the United States has achieved historic reforms across the U.N. – reforms long considered impossible – including the first real budget cut in U.N. history, resulting in nearly one billion in cuts,” a State Department official, responding to Reuters questions about the payment, said in an email.
In April, Devex, a development news agency, reported that the U.S. had set specific conditions for the release of funds, such as more cost-cutting and moves to counter China’s influence.More: U.S. debt set to hit $40 trillion months earlier than expected
The Trump administration has carried out an unprecedented shrinking of its federal government, saying it was bloated and has significantly cut back on domestic and foreign grants in an effort that it says was to put money into causes that aligned with U.S. taxpayer interests.
The $725 million would be less than 20% of the more than $4 billion that the U.N. said in May that the United States owed — though Washington has said that total figure is much lower and that it has made some payments.
Eugene Chen, a former U.N. official, said such a transfer would help pay U.N. salaries for a period, but might not cover them all. “It keeps the ship afloat a little longer,” he said.
Hellbound and Down 