The United Nations will reduce its global peacekeeping force by a quarter in the coming months, forcing thousands of troops to withdraw from conflict zones as a result of the latest U.S. funding cuts, a senior UN official said on Wednesday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity after a private briefing, the official said the 25% downsizing comes as the United States — the UN’s largest donor — moves to align its contributions with President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy.
The decision will affect between 13,000 and 14,000 military and police personnel out of more than 50,000 peacekeepers currently deployed across nine missions worldwide. The UN support office in Somalia will also face reductions. Overall, the peacekeeping budget will be cut by about 15% this year.
Current UN missions are deployed in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Kosovo.
Each of the UN’s 193 member states is required to contribute to peacekeeping operations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly stressed that peacekeeping — which accounts for only about half of one percent of global military spending — remains one of the most cost-effective tools for maintaining international peace and security.
The cuts follow a meeting on Tuesday between Guterres and representatives of major donor countries, including Mike Waltz, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Waltz and other Trump administration officials have argued that the UN system is “bloated and inefficient,” pledging to withhold additional U.S. contributions until a full review of every UN agency and program is completed.
Since beginning his second term in January, President Trump has ordered a review of U.S. participation in multilateral institutions, leading to Washington’s withdrawal from UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and the UN Human Rights Council, while reassessing funding for others.
As part of broader UN reforms and in response to reduced U.S. funding, more than 60 UN offices and agencies are now facing 20% workforce cuts.
In a recent television interview, Ambassador Waltz said the U.S. aims to “get the UN back to basics — promoting peace, enforcing peace, preventing wars,” adding that Washington intends to eliminate “unnecessary spending.”
UN peacekeeping operations have expanded significantly since the end of the Cold War. From 11,000 personnel in the early 1990s, the force peaked at around 130,000 in 2014 across 16 missions. Today, approximately 52,000 peacekeepers serve in 11 conflict zones in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
According to the UN official, the U.S. has pledged $680 million toward nine peacekeeping missions — a sharp decline from the $1 billion contribution made a year earlier. The funding will prioritize missions of particular U.S. interest, including those in Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The U.S. and China together account for roughly half of the UN’s peacekeeping budget. Another senior UN official said China has signaled its intention to pay its full share by the end of the year.
