Trump looking at $1B cut to UN peacekeeping programs: report

The Trump administration is weighing a proposed $1 billion cut in funding for United Nations peacekeeping, children’s and poverty programs, according to a new report.

The proposal is sure to face opposition in Congress.

But the White House budget office told State Department officials this week to brace for the reductions, Foreign Policy reported Thursday.

The news magazine said the State Department was warned that it will reduce its U.N. peacekeeping budget by 40 percent.  The U.S. contributed over $2 billion to that $8 billion budget last year.

The Trump administration also reportedly wants to scrap all U.S. funding to the $326 million International Organizations and Programs account.

The report noted the account provides more than $130 million to the U.N.’s Children’s Fund and around $70 million to the U.N. Development Program.

The fund also constitutes a significant portion of the more than $500 million the U.S. contributed to UNICEF last year.

U.S. government agencies contributed nearly $10.5 billion in 2016 to multiple U.N. programs.

Foreign Policy confirmed the administration’s plan with two diplomatic sources familiar with its details. 

“[The 2018] budget request will reduce funding requested for the U.N. and affiliated agencies,” a State official said.

“Beyond this, more details won’t be available until the president’s full FY 2018 Budget is rolled out later in the spring.”

A White House official told Foreign Policy “the President’s America First blueprint seeks to place more focus at home and less abroad.”

“That having been said, internal deliberations surrounding the fiscal year 2018 budget are ongoing and final details will be announced in the mid-May release.”

The White House released Trump’s first budget blueprint last week, revealing a plan to dramatically shrink the size of government. A more detailed budget will be released in May.

The document proposed a $54 billion increase in defense spending, which the White House said would be offset by cuts elsewhere.

Trump called for a 28 percent reduction in State’s budget, a cut that White House budget director Mick Mulvaney conceded was “fairly dramatic.”

Presidential budgets are only a guide for Congress, which ultimately controls spending.

Democrats and some Republicans have balked at Trump’s suggestions, all but ensuring his blueprint will undergo changes before reaching its final form.