The US government has notified Congress of plans to pay US$850 million of the several billion dollars it owes to the United Nations, marking the largest payment the Trump administration would make to the world body since demanding sweeping reforms in exchange for continued support as its biggest donor.
According to notifications sent to lawmakers this month and obtained by The Associated Press, the State Department plans to transfer US$725 million towards its contributions to the regular UN budget.
Another US$125 million would be allocated to UN peacekeeping operations in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
US still owes about US$5 billion
The United States is behind on about US$5 billion in dues related to its UN membership, according to the United Nations.
More than US$2 billion is owed to the UN’s regular budget, while another US$3 billion is outstanding for peacekeeping operations.
In February, the Trump administration made a single payment of US$160 million after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the organisation faced an ‘imminent financial collapse’ unless its financial rules were overhauled or all 193 member states paid their dues.
The warning was widely seen as directed particularly at the United States.
The Trump administration did not make any payments to the United Nations in 2025.
Trump administration pushes for reforms
President Donald Trump and his allies have spent the past year and a half demanding major changes across the UN.
The push has alarmed many humanitarian workers and led to significant reductions in programmes and services.
Trump has publicly criticised the United Nations for failing to live up to its potential.
His administration has also withdrawn from several UN organisations, including the World Health Organization and the cultural agency UNESCO, while cutting funding for dozens of others.
The US notifications, sent to Congress on Aug 4 and first reported by Reuters, have drawn initial resistance from some Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Republicans raise concerns over UN funding
Some Republicans argued that the proposed appropriations did not sufficiently address the administration’s concerns over what it describes as bloated UN staffing and ideological positions that conflict with Trump’s anti-woke agenda.
A Republican congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because lawmakers had not yet decided how or whether to respond to the notifications, said the proposed measures also did not appear strong enough regarding the withholding of US assistance to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The US mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
