US pays $160 million of more than $4 billion owed to UN

2026-02-20 04:49:20

Summary
Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ held its first meeting on Thursday
Trump has withdrawn from dozens of UN agencies and slashed voluntary funding
Experts say Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ could undermine UN

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The United States has paid about $160 million of the more than $4 billion it owes to the U.N., a United Nations spokesperson said on Thursday as President Donald Trump hosted the first meeting of his “Board of Peace” initiative that experts say could undermine the United Nations.

“Last week, we received about $160 million from the United States as a partial payment of its past dues for the U.N. regular budget,” the U.N. spokesperson said in a statement.

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Trump said during his comments at the opening “Board of Peace” meeting that Washington would give the United Nations money to strengthen it.

The U.S. is the biggest contributor to the U.N. budget, but under the Trump administration it has refused to make mandatory payments to regular and peacekeeping budgets, and slashed voluntary funding to U.N. agencies with their own budgets.

Washington has withdrawn from dozens of U.N. agencies.

U.N. officials say the U.S. owed $2.19 billion to the regular U.N. budget as of the start of February, more than 95% of the total owed by countries globally. The U.S. also owes another $2.4 billion for current and past peacekeeping missions and $43.6 million for U.N. tribunals.

U.S President Donald Trump talks with world leaders participating in the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

“We’re going to help them (U.N.) money-wise, and we’re going to make sure the United Nations is viable,” Trump said.

“I think the United Nations has great potential, really great potential. It has not lived up to (that) potential.”

Countries, including major powers of the Global South and key U.S. allies in the West, have been reluctant to join Trump’s “Board of Peace” where Trump himself is the chair. Many experts have said such an initiative undermines the United Nations.

Trump launched the board last month and proposed it late last year as part of his plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza.

A U.N. Security Council resolution recognized the board late last year through 2027, limiting its scope to Gaza, the Palestinian territory it was meant to oversee following Israel’s devastating more than two‑year assault. Under Trump’s plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza, the board was meant to oversee Gaza’s temporary governance. Trump subsequently said the board will tackle global conflicts and look beyond Gaza as well.

U.N. experts say that Trump’s oversight of a board to supervise a foreign territory’s affairs resembles a colonial structure and criticized the board for not having Palestinian representation. There was no U.N. representative at the “Board of Peace” meeting on Thursday.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Trevor Hunnicutt; Writing by Kanishka Singh and David Ljunggren; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Philippa Fletcher and Diane Craft

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Kanishka Singh

Thomson Reuters

Kanishka Singh is a breaking news reporter for Reuters in Washington DC, who primarily covers US politics and national affairs in his current role. His past breaking news coverage has spanned across a range of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement; the US elections; the 2021 Capitol riots and their follow up probes; the Brexit deal; US-China trade tensions; the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a 2019 Supreme Court verdict on a religious dispute site in his native India.

Trevor Hunnicutt

Thomson Reuters

Trevor Hunnicutt is White House Correspondent at Reuters News. He writes about U.S. foreign and domestic policy and regularly travels with the President of the United States. Prior to joining the White House team in 2021, he covered presidential campaigns, economics, finance and investing for many years. He has also served on the board of the White House Correspondents’ Association. Hunnicutt holds a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and a master’s from the London School of Economics.

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