The agreement struck between UN ambassador Mike Waltz and the international organization is part of the Trump admin's broader effort to reform the UN
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz reached an agreement with the international body this week that will see the United Nations slash its global peacekeeping force by about 25 percent and reduce peacekeeping funding by 15 percent, according to those briefed on the matter. The United Nations' concessions are part of a broader push by the Trump administration to reduce the organization's ballooning budgets funded in large part with U.S. taxpayer dollars.
Waltz secured the agreement during a Tuesday meeting with U.N. secretary general António Guterres, according to U.N. officials briefed on the matter. The deal stipulates that the United Nations' international peacekeeping force -- composed of more than 50,000 soldiers from varying nations -- will repatriate around 25 percent of its troops and equipment across nine global missions. The move will be accompanied by a 15-percent cut to the force's $6.7-billion budget, around 25 percent of which comes from the United States.
The agreement comes after the Trump administration withheld roughly half of the United States' $3-billion annual investment in the United Nations, citing the organization's skyrocketing budgets and failure to implement a series of cost-saving reforms. U.N. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon said that Waltz is "demanding reforms first and upfront at the U.N." before the United States will release any more taxpayer money.
The United Nations' global peacekeeping missions have long faced accusations of being ineffective. The International Peace Institute's Global Observatory noted in a May 2023 analysis that the U.N.'s peacekeeping missions -- which operate in conflict zones around the world -- are largely perceived as "ineffective and problematic." Allegations of rape and other forms of sexual misconduct among U.N. peacekeepers reached triple digits in 2024 for the third time in 10 years, with many in the Congo and the Central African Republic reporting that peacekeepers have abused children.
A Western diplomat told the Free Beacon the deal signifies how serious the United States is about changing the way the United Nations operates.
"It's clear that the Trump administration is committed to reforming the United Nations, starting with the most serious cuts to global peacekeeping missions in decades," the diplomat said.
The agreement to scale back the United Nations' peacekeeping force is just one piece of the Trump administration's plan to leverage the United States' contributions -- more funding than all 192 other member nations combined -- to secure a series of long-desired reforms.
Guterres acknowledged during the closed-door session that the United Nations' peacekeeping forces could be "more effective and cheaper," according to those briefed on the meeting. The U.N. leader also admitted that "the way [the organization does] business needs to change."
The ultimate goal, sources said, is to examine every current U.N. peacekeeping mission and eradicate bloat. The deal, one source noted, is an example of how Waltz will enforce President Donald Trump's vision for the United Nations.
The force reduction deal follows on the heels of an August bid to wind down the United Nations' peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.
The force costs between $400 million and $500 million each year, with the United States paying roughly 30 percent of the budget. The Trump administration clawed back about $158 million from UNIFIL earlier this year, and the United Nations voted at the United States' urging to renew the force's mission one final time before dissolving the body in December 2026.
The Trump administration's opposition to UNIFIL came in part from the force's years-long focus on left-wing programs like "gender diversity" training and lessons on "gender mainstreaming in military operations."
A Western diplomat who worked to wind down UNIFIL's mission told the Free Beacon in August, before Waltz assumed his post, that the Trump administration is in a position to use its sway to crack down on out-of-control spending.
"The U.N. peace keeping mission [in Lebanon] failed, and renewing the mandate would be throwing good money after bad," the source said. "UNIFIL was entirely ineffective at disarming Hezbollah."