The United States has unveiled a $2 billion pledge for United Nations humanitarian operations, a move that comes as the Trump administration heavily reduces foreign assistance and presses global aid agencies to overhaul how they operate.
Announced Monday, the commitment represents a significant scaling back from previous years but is being framed by U.S. officials as a strategic contribution designed to preserve the U.S. government’s standing as the world’s largest humanitarian donor while forcing long demanded reforms at the United Nations.
Under the plan, the funding will be placed into a centralized pool rather than dispersed across individual agencies. The structure is intended to give the government greater oversight and to push U.N. bodies toward consolidation, a shift that has already unsettled humanitarian organizations and contributed to program cuts and job losses across the sector.
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While $2 billion remains a substantial sum, it is far below historical levels. U.S. humanitarian contributions to U.N. programs have reached as high as $17 billion annually in recent years, according to U.N. figures. Officials say only $8 billion to $10 billion of that total typically came through voluntary contributions. On top of that, the United States pays billions more each year in mandatory U.N. dues.
Critics argue the retrenchment has had serious consequences, worsening hunger, displacement and disease in fragile regions while weakening American influence abroad.
The funding announcement caps a turbulent year for U.N. agencies, including those responsible for refugees, migration and food assistance. Billions of dollars in U.S. aid have already been cut, forcing deep reductions in operations and staffing. Other major donors in Europe and Asia have also scaled back, compounding the strain.
The new U.S. pledge will be routed through the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, led by former British diplomat Tom Fletcher. The agreement marks a shift away from the government’s previous practice of distributing funds directly to individual agencies.
Humanitarian needs, meanwhile, continue to climb. Famine has been recorded in parts of Sudan and Gaza, while floods, droughts and other climate-related disasters have displaced millions and overwhelmed aid systems worldwide.
The cuts have already hit major U.N. bodies such as the World Food Program, the International Organization for Migration and the U.N. refugee agency. These groups have received billions less from the United States this year than they did under the Biden administration or even during Trump’s first term.
Under the new framework, OCHA will act as a central clearinghouse for aid, directing funds to agencies based on priority and performance rather than through multiple, overlapping appeals. The approach builds on what Fletcher last year described as a “humanitarian reset” aimed at improving efficiency and accountability.
The United States wants to see “more consolidated leadership authority” in U.N. aid delivery systems, said a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement in Geneva, according to AP’s report.
Under the plan, Fletcher and his coordination office “are going to control the spigot” on how money is distributed to agencies, the official said.
“This humanitarian reset at the United Nations should deliver more aid with fewer tax dollars — providing more focused, results-driven assistance aligned with U.S foreign policy,” said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz.
U.S. officials describe the $2 billion pledge as an initial contribution toward OCHA’s annual funding appeal, which was scaled back earlier this year to reflect the new global funding environment. Other major donors, including Britain, France, Germany and Japan, have also reduced their commitments while calling for structural reforms.
“The agreement requires the U.N. to consolidate humanitarian functions to reduce bureaucratic overhead, unnecessary duplication, and ideological creep,” the State Department said in a statement. “Individual U.N. agencies will need to adapt, shrink, or die.”
“Nowhere is reform more important than the humanitarian agencies, which perform some of the U.N.’s most critical work,” the department added. “Today’s agreement is a critical step in those reform efforts, balancing President Trump’s commitment to remaining the world’s most generous nation, with the imperative to bring reform to the way we fund, oversee, and integrate with U.N. humanitarian efforts.”
The revamped funding system will initially target 17 countries, including Bangladesh, Congo, Haiti, Syria and Ukraine. Afghanistan is not among them, nor are the Palestinian territories. U.S. officials say assistance for those areas will be addressed separately through funding linked to Trump’s still-unfinished Gaza peace initiative.
The decision reflects Trump’s long-held view that the United Nations has drifted from its original mission. While acknowledging the organization’s potential, he has repeatedly argued that it has become inefficient, politically biased and detached from its core humanitarian purpose.
Fletcher welcomed the agreement, calling it a critical show of support at a time of mounting global need.
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“At a moment of immense global strain, the United States is demonstrating that it is a humanitarian superpower, offering hope to people who have lost everything,” he said.
