Michael Waltz said the Trump administration secured more than $1 billion in cuts to United Nations budgets over six months, with the biggest reductions landing in the peacekeeping and regular budgets. The cuts affect assessed spending that is paid by all 193 U.N. member states through mandatory contributions.
Jeff Bartos, the U.S. Ambassador for U.N. Management and Reform, said on Digital that the administration had achieved over a billion dollars of savings in six months. He added, "We've achieved over a billion dollars of savings in six months, which is unprecedented," and said, "Any one cut would be unprecedented."
June 30 peacekeeping vote
On June 30, all 193 U.N. member states approved a peacekeeping budget of approximately $5.1 billion for the coming fiscal year. That total was about $550 million, or 9.7%, less than the previous year, while the U.N.'s regular budget was approved in December with a 15% reduction.
U.S. officials said the two reductions together amounted to more than $1 billion in cuts to assessed U.N. budgets. Because assessed budgets come from mandatory contributions, the change reaches every member state rather than only the countries that typically push for reform.
Stéphane Dujarric response
Stéphane Dujarric said the peacekeeping budget was reduced by roughly $550 million and the regular budget by 15%, calling both "unprecedented reductions." Bartos described the same package as "monumental" and said, "The totality of the reforms is monumental."
He also said, "The new budget, this reformed budget, the enhanced efficiency changes the culture of how the U.N. looks at peacekeeping," and, "Every dollar has to achieve impact on the ground." He pointed to the U.N. Mission in South Sudan as an example of a mission the United States worked to streamline.
United Nations reform push
The cuts come as the United Nations faces mounting financial pressure and as António Guterres heads toward the end of his second term in 2027. The administration has made reform a central part of its U.N. strategy, and Bartos said the savings show that the budget fight is now producing changes in how the organization spends.
The immediate question is what specific reforms or program changes produced the more than $1 billion in savings. For member states, the practical result is already set: the United Nations has approved smaller budgets, and the pressure now shifts to whether the same approach reaches the next round of reforms.
