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antonio guterres
UN Chief Guterres Warns of ‘Imminent Financial Collapse’ as Trump Pulls Funding
As the world's largest economy, the US provided nearly a quarter of the UN's funding. That is, until earlier this month, when Trump stripped hundreds of millions of dollars from dozens of treaties.
Jan 30, 2026
Weeks after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from dozens of United Nations organizations, the UN's chief warns that the UN is at risk of an "imminent financial collapse."
"The crisis is deepening, threatening program delivery and risking financial collapse. And the situation will deteriorate further in the near future," UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrote in a letter to ambassadors dated January 28, according to a Friday report from Reuters.
While he did not reference the United States explicitly, Guterres called out the fact that "decisions not to honor assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved regular budget have now been formally announced," which almost certainly referenced Trump's pullout from at least 66 international treaties earlier this month, including 31 within the UN system.
With the stroke of a pen, Trump reneged on the US commitment to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which it has been part of for more than 30 years. He also took the US out of the UN International Law Commission, the UN Democracy Fund, UN Oceans, UN Women, and dozens of other global bodies, deeming them "contrary to the interests of the United States."
As the world's largest economy, the US was the largest source of funding for the UN, providing 22% of its regular and peacekeeping budgets as of 2025—about $820 million per year.
The largest single financial cut as a result of the US pullout was the termination of dozens of grants worth approximately $377 million for the UN Population Fund, which focuses on family planning and preventing maternal mortality and sexual violence in developing nations. The organization is estimated to have prevented 39,000 maternal deaths and 18 million unwanted pregnancies in 2024, according to an annual report.
Warning that cash could run out by July, Guterres said, “Either all member states honor their obligations to pay in full and on time–or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse."
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UN Chief: 2025 Was 'Profoundly Challenging Year for International Cooperation'
"We see powerful forces lining up to undermine global cooperation," António Guterres said at an event celebrating the UN General Assembly's 80th anniversary.
Jan 18, 2026
As the United Nations celebrates the 80th anniversary of its first General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that militarism, fossil fuels, and tech-based disruption are threatening its mission of international collaboration at a time when it is urgently needed.
Guterres delivered his remarks on Saturday at the Methodist Central Hall in London, where the first UN General Assembly was held on January 10, 1946. The first UN Security Council meeting was held on January 17 of the same year, also in London.
"We see powerful forces lining up to undermine global cooperation," Guterres said.
He continued: "Last year, the UN reported that global military spending reached $2.7 trillion—over 200 times the UK’s current aid budget, or equivalent to over 70% of Britain’s entire economy. As the planet broke heat records, fossil fuel profits continued to surge. And in cyberspace, algorithms rewarded falsehoods, fueled hatred, and provided authoritarians with powerful tools of control."
"The General Assembly which we celebrate today exists because of a simple truth—humanity is strongest when we stand as one."
Guterres, whose term as secretary-general comes to an end at the close of 2026, reflected on the tumultuous decade he had presided over.
He began his term in 2017, in the wake of President Donald Trump's first electoral victory in the US and the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom. That year, he also spoke in the same location, he said, and warned of the escalation of local conflicts, the rise of artificial intelligence and other new technologies, and how national sovereignty was being used as an excuse to disregard human rights.
"Over the last decade," he said, "all of this and more has unfolded at warp speed. The conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan have been vicious and cruel beyond measure; artificial intelligence has become ubiquitous almost overnight; and the pandemic poured accelerant on the fires of nationalism—stalling progress on development and climate action."
"If this period has taught us anything," he continued, "it is that our challenges are ever more borderless, and ever more interconnected. The only way to address them is together. And that requires a robust, responsive, and well-resourced multilateral system."
But that system, he said, was "under threat."
"2025 was a profoundly challenging year for international cooperation and the values of the UN," he said. "Aid was slashed. Inequalities widened. Climate chaos accelerated. International law was trampled. Crackdowns on civil society intensified. Journalists were killed with impunity. And United Nations staff were repeatedly threatened—or killed—in the line of duty."
While Guterres did not call out any particular country or leader, the Guardian noted that Trump's decision to dramatically slash US humanitarian funding for the UN last year is the leading cause of its budget troubles. Early in 2026, Trump also withdrew the US from key treaties including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Guterres' remarks came the same day that Trump threatened new tariffs against eight long-time European allies over their opposition to his desire for the US to acquire Greenland, further throwing international alliances into chaos.
The UN leader called on the body to adjust to a shifting global reality without abandoning its mission.
"The world of 2026 is not the world of 1946," he said. "As global centers of power shift, we have the potential to build a future that is either more fair—or more unstable. If we wish to make it more fair, it is critical that the international system reflects today’s reality."
Despite the challenges he described, Guterres called on members of the United Nations Association-UK (UNA-UK), which organized Saturday's meeting, to continue with their work.
"In this moment when the values of multilateralism are being chipped away, it is up to us—in our capacity as professionals, as voters, and as members of organizations like the UNA-UK—to take a stand. More than ever, the world needs civil society movements that are fearless and persistent—that make it impossible for leaders to look away."
"The General Assembly which we celebrate today exists because of a simple truth—humanity is strongest when we stand as one," he continued. "But that unity does not start in the General Assembly—it starts here, with people’s movements like yours."
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Israeli Raid on UNRWA Compound Slammed as 'Dangerous Precedent'
"This latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations member state to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises," said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.
Dec 08, 2025
United Nations officials and others strongly condemned Monday's raid by Israeli authorities on a facility run by the UN's office for Palestinian refugees in occupied East Jerusalem—an act one rights group decried as part of an ongoing effort "to undermine and ultimately eliminate" the lifesaving agency.
Israeli police and other officials forcibly entered the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) compound early Monday, pulling down a UN flag on the facility's roof and replacing it with an Israeli one. Israeli officials said the raid was ordered over unpaid taxes.
"They call it 'debt collection'—we call it erasure," Claudia Webbe, a socialist former member of British Parliament, said on social media. "Over 70,000 dead in Gaza, they now seek to kill the memory of the living. The occupation must end."
Police vehicles including motorcycles, trucks, and forklifts entered the compound, while communications were cut and furniture, computer equipment, and other property were seized from the facility, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
"This latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations member state to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises," Lazzarini said in a statement.
"To allow this represents a new challenge to international law, one that creates a dangerous precedent anywhere else the UN is present across the world," he added.
Secretary-General António Guterres was among the other senior UN officials who condemned Monday's raid.
“This compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference,” he said.
“I urge Israel to immediately take all necessary steps to restore, preserve, and uphold the inviolability of UNRWA premises and to refrain from taking any further action with regard to UNRWA premises, in line with its obligations under the charter of the United Nations and its other obligations under international law," Guterres added.
In late 2024, Israeli lawmakers approved a ban on UNRWA in Israel over disproven allegations that some of its staffers were Hamas members who took part in the October 7, 2023 attack. Those accusations led to numerous nations suspending financial support for UNRWA, although most of the countries have since restored funding. Israel has also sought to ban UNRWA from Gaza since early 2024.
Israeli forces have killed more than 370 UNRWA staff members since October 2023 and destroyed or damaged over 300 of the agency's facilities in Gaza. Lazzarini and others have also accused Israeli forces of torturing UNRWA staffers in a bid to force false confessions of Hamas involvement.
In October, the International Court of Justice—which is currently weighing a genocide case against Israel—found that UNRWA has not been infiltrated by Hamas as claimed by Israeli leaders.
Others also condemned Monday's raid, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), which called the action part of an effort "to undermine and ultimately eliminate a United Nations agency providing vital services to millions of Palestinian refugees."
"Governments should condemn Israel's unlawful moves against UNRWA and urgently act to stop further abuses," HRW added.
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