Extract from ABC News
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the US from dozens of international organisations. (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)
US President Donald Trump has pulled the US out of dozens of international organisations he deemed "wasteful, ineffective, or harmful".
Almost half of those 66 organisations are devoted to upholding international law and protecting women and children from violence.
The organisations, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, now advance agendas "contrary" to the US.
"[They are] a threat to our nation's sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity," he said in a statement announcing the decision.
An ABC review of the full list found at least 16 groups focusing on climate change and the environment and 14 focused on international law, peacekeeping and protection of vulnerable groups.
A further five groups were focused on curbing international security threats, counterterrorism and cybercrime.
It's a decision that "sends a message", according to Dr Emma Shortis, director of the International & Security Affairs Program at The Australia Institute.
"There's a particular targeting of the poorest and most vulnerable places and organisations," she told the ABC.
"There's many organisations focused on Africa … that, I think, is ideological and targeted.
"This is a reflection most clearly articulated by Stephen Miller. He makes these comments about [how] this is effectively a 'might is right' world.
"[In that world] violence and power are the only indicators of strength and success.
"This is showing that the United States under Trump has no interest in building [any] genuine peace, that military might and strength is all they're interested in."
'America First' means abandoning global agreements, say officials
Under Trump's latest order, the US will stop "participating in and funding" all of the organisations on the list.
A White House fact sheet contended those groups operated contrary to "US national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty".
"Many of these bodies promote radical climate policies, global governance, and ideological programs that conflict with US sovereignty and economic strength," the White House said.
"By exiting these entities, President Trump is saving taxpayer money and refocusing resources on America First priorities."
Rubio took a firmer tone in his statement — the organisations on the list, he said, were taking the "blood, sweat and treasure of the American people".
"[We get] little to nothing to show for it,"he said.
One of the agreements included on the list is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which has been in place for more than three decades.
The agreement, signed by 198 countries, serves as the baseline for the landmark Paris Agreement, a legally binding treaty to limit global warming.
Trump pulled the US out of that agreement during his first term in 2016, then again in 2025, just hours after his second inauguration.
The withdrawal will become official later this month, one year after the formal notification.
His decision made the US one of just four countries not included — alongside Iran, Libya and Yemen.
At the same time, he suspended support for the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN agencies.
In his statement this week, Rubio said the organisations were "often dominated by progressive ideology and detached from national interests".
"[What] started as a pragmatic framework of international organisations for peace and cooperation has morphed into a sprawling architecture of global governance," he said.
Donald Trump withdrew from multiple international organisations just hours after his inauguration. (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)
The institutions chosen aligned with the Trump administration's national messaging, said Professor Wesley Widmaier from the Australian National University's Department of International Relations.
"For many of these institutions that they're pulling out of, for violence against women, or protecting young people … it also accords with the domestic 'anti-woke' agenda," he said.
"This may be hard to justify in terms of protecting the most vulnerable members of society.
"But if you're on that war against 'woke', it makes perfect sense."
The 'inevitable' turning of the 'president of peace'
The withdrawal was, "once Trump had been re-elected, inevitable", Widmaier said.
"Trump does not hold to a Cold War-styled 'containment' view dominated by a bipolar 'East vs West' dynamic.
"He thinks in 'sphere of influence' terms, in which each great power enjoys control: China dominates Asia, Russia has greater sway over Europe, and the US controls the Western hemisphere.
"If you look at the discussions over the last couple days of Venezuela and Greenland, that reflects this view.
"Through that lens, international institutions do little for the US. They're almost a mechanism of self-exploitation … they offer no material benefit."
Trump's deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller, has been widely considered one of the most influential figures in shaping the president's political worldview.
Stephen Miller has been regarded as one of Mr Trump's most trusted advisers. (Reuters: Kent Nishimura)
Earlier this week, he dismissed what he called "international niceties" during a combative appearance on CNN.
"We live in a world, in the real world, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,"he said.
"These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.
"We're a superpower. And under President Trump, we are going to conduct ourselves as a superpower."
This shift in messaging came in the wake of the US strike on Venezuela, its arrest of President Nicolás Maduro, and its ongoing threats to take Greenland.
Earlier in 2025, Trump had positioned himself as the "president of peace".
The rest of the world, Shortis said, has now been left working out how to respond to this kind of "aggression".
"The idea of Trump as the anti-war president was never true," she said.
"Trump loves war. He relishes violence. Just look at the way he talks about bombs and how big they are.
"What he hates is losing war, and his understanding is that he can win wars … and I think that framing got lost and was deliberately obscured.
"He's not interested in peace, he's interested in dominance, and when they say peace, that's what they mean."
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