US plans $725m payment towards its large UN debt

Highlights:

• Less than 20% of what the UN says it is owed by Washington
• Payment could stave off immediate cuts, expert says
• Countries in arrears to UN can lose voting rights
• US is biggest contributor to UN, ahead of China

The Trump administration has informed Congress of its intention to pay $725 million to the United Nations, a congressional notification seen by Reuters showed, a move aid experts said was a welcome step towards paying billions in dues owed.

The administration has criticised the global body for not living up to its potential and slashed funding to many UN agencies. When asked about the planned payment, a US official said any payments will be contingent on continued reforms of the organisation and added that the US has not transferred any funds as of Friday.

The allocation of funds - mentioned in an 4 August State Department notification letter to Congress that has not been previously reported - comes ahead of an expected speech by US President Donald Trump to the UN General Assembly in New York next month.

'It keeps the ship afloat a little longer'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this year that the UN faced "imminent financial collapse" due to unpaid contributions from member states, and the global body has brought in large budget cuts.

"Over the past six months, the United States has achieved historic reforms across the UN – reforms long considered impossible – including the first real budget cut in UN history, resulting in nearly one billion in cuts," a State Department official, responding to Reuters questions about the payment, said in an email.

In April, Devex, a development news agency, reported that the US had set specific conditions for the release of funds, such as more cost-cutting and moves to counter China's influence.

The Trump administration has carried out an unprecedented shrinking of its federal government, saying it was bloated and has significantly cut back on domestic and foreign grants in an effort that it says was to put money into causes that aligned with US taxpayer interests.

The $725 million would be less than 20% of the more than $4 billion that the UN said in May that the United States owed — though Washington has said that total figure is much lower and that it has made some payments.

Eugene Chen, a former UN official, said such a transfer would help pay UN salaries for a period, but might not cover them all. "It keeps the ship afloat a little longer," he said.

"If the US does not make further payments it will likely lose its voting rights in January," he added.

Under Article 19 of the UN Charter, a member state loses its voting rights in the General Assembly if its arrears exceed two years in annual fees, although grace periods are possible.

A significant transfer now could avert the need for immediate spending cuts, Ronny Patz, an expert in UN finance with German think tank IDOS, said.

"If they pay a big chunk, the UN still runs on zero reserves but it gets through the year," Patz added. "If they don't pay, the UN might really be in trouble for the last two or three months of the year in terms of paying salaries and keeping the doors open."

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

Washington has also withdrawn from dozens of UN and other international agencies.

The UN had been counting on collecting around 90% of dues from its 193 members for this year's budget, its Controller Chandramouli Ramanathan said last month.

As of 18 August, some 129 members had paid in full, a UN document showed. China, the No. 2 contributor after Washington, was also absent from the list.

The State Department said in its 4 August letter it was obligating a total of $725 million for the UN's regular budget.

In May, the UN said the more than $4 billion owed to it by Washington included $2.04 billion for the regular budget, $2.2 billion for current and past peacekeeping missions and $44 million for UN tribunals.

Washington has not transferred around $153.4 million in what it calls "policy-based withholdings". That included $10.6 million meant for the Human Rights Council — which Washington disengaged from last year alleging an anti-Israel bias — and funds for the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency.

The 80-year-old institution has been undergoing a reform and cost-cutting exercise known as "UN80" amid its financial crisis.

It has already cut its 2026 budget by 9.2% and transferred over 2,000 jobs out of expensive cities like Geneva and New York to lower-cost hubs.