President Donald Trump has directed the United States to pull out of 66 international organisations, a decision that underscores a sharp shift in Washington’s approach to multilateral engagement and signals one of the most far-reaching retrenchments from global institutions in recent US history.
The order, contained in a Presidential Memorandum signed on Wednesday, was confirmed in a White House fact sheet released on January 7, 2026. It instructs US government agencies to immediately halt participation in and funding for dozens of international bodies deemed misaligned with American interests.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organisations that no longer serve American interests,” the White House said in the statement.
Under the directive, all executive departments and agencies are required to disengage from 35 non-United Nations organisations and 31 UN-affiliated entities. The administration said the affected bodies operate “contrary to US national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty.”
The White House said the decision followed a comprehensive review launched earlier in the year into every international intergovernmental organisation, convention and treaty involving US membership, funding or support. That assessment, it said, identified institutions where continued US involvement no longer delivers sufficient value to American taxpayers.
“These withdrawals will end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over US priorities, or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively such that US taxpayer dollars are best allocated in other ways,” the statement added.
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