Why is the U.S. pulling out of 31 U.N. groups? And what's the impact?

""This is a ridiculous and dangerous, thoughtless and malicious action," says Nina Schwalbe, a senior scholar at the Georgetown Center for Global Policy and Politics, who has been a critic of the Trump administration's cuts to global health. "He withdrew from the World Health Organization [almost a year ago], which was the first sign of his withdrawal from multilateralism. He cut down a tree. Now he's cutting down the whole forest," she says. "The implications are going to go so far and wide from children's education to climate change to art and culture. He's just taken a bazooka and blown the whole thing apart.""

""I see it as a missed opportunity," he says. Recalling Trump's promise to reassess how the U.S. engages with international organizations, Schaefer says, "This is, in my opinion, pruning around the margins. The largest recipients of U.S. funding in the U.N. system are largely unaddressed by this executive order." He said the number 66 is impressive but many of the specific organizations are "very small and obscure." He added: "I was underwhelmed.""

President Trump issued an executive order directing the United States to withdraw from 66 international organizations, agencies, and commissions. Reactions split sharply between critics who call the move dangerous and destructive and supporters who say it does not go far enough. Nina Schwalbe warned that the action will affect children's education, climate change efforts, art, culture, and global health, likening it to cutting down a whole forest. Brett Schaefer described the order as a missed opportunity that prunes around the margins, leaving major U.N. funding recipients largely unaddressed. The U.N. noted regret and cited legal obligations for assessed contributions.

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