Donald Trump said he was unaware of delays in the United States meeting its financial obligations to the United Nations and insisted that, if necessary, he could swiftly compel other countries to pay their contributions should the organization make such a request.
“If they [the UN] had come to Trump and told him about it, I would have made everyone pay just as I made [NATO] members pay. All I have to do is call these countries. They would send the checks within minutes,” Trump said in a phone interview with Politico.
In late January, The New York Times, citing senior UN officials, reported that the organization, facing the brink of financial collapse, could be forced to scale back operations or even consider closing its headquarters in New York. Trump dismissed that possibility.
“I do not think this is appropriate. The UN is not leaving New York and is not leaving the United States, because the UN has enormous potential,” the US president said in an interview with Politico.
Trump has previously issued repeated and sharp criticism of the UN. In particular, at a General Assembly session in New York in September 2025, he accused the organization of “empty words” and said it had “not helped” him resolve seven armed conflicts. Separately, the US president criticized the assistance UN bodies provide to people seeking asylum and hoping to enter the United States.
On January 22, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump, in the presence of around 20 world leaders—mostly from the Middle East and South America—signed the charter of the Peace Council he created. The new international body is conceived as a de facto alternative to the UN.