Mike Waltz, the former United States national security adviser and now the nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, pledged to lead a review of Washington’s financial contributions to the UN to ensure they align with America’s national interests, carrying out the Trump administration’s political agenda.
Waltz, 51, testified before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 15. Republicans expressed frustration with the level of support the US receives at the UN, especially how African countries vote on key resolutions. For example, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) questioned whether voting patterns at the UN should be used as a criterion for determining which countries qualify for US foreign aid.
Waltz agreed with calls from Republican lawmakers to tie US foreign aid to diplomatic loyalty at the UN and said he would refocus spending to align with Washington’s interests.
“By the figures I’ve seen, over $100 billion has gone through UN entities into Africa, and we’re looking at a 29 to 32 percent voting coincidence rate,” Waltz said. “We have the continent with the highest recipient of American workers’ money siding with us by far the least. I commit to you to work very hard to use the leverage that only this president could use to reverse that trend.”
Foreign aid was also a major topic elsewhere on Capitol Hill on July 15, as lawmakers debated whether it is in the US’ interest to continue providing global health assistance. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) argued that while Africa is the largest recipient of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), many African countries consistently vote against US positions at the UN.
It is unclear if Waltz’s ambassadorship, if confirmed, will be at the cabinet level. Besides fielding questions from the Senate committee on the use of American foreign aid at the UN, he was also asked about mitigating China’s perceived influence in the organization and about the world body’s inefficiencies and other criticisms regarding the 80-year-old organization.
The topic of Ukraine and Russia did not come up in the hearing as Democrats grilled Waltz about his role in Signalgate — in which he included a US journalist on an encrypted Signal chat discussing imminent military operations in Yemen — and Republicans pushed the candidate to improve the UN’s operations.
Yet, Waltz said that though the No. 1 need for the UN is reform, he hinted at its “potential,” saying, “We should have one place in the world where everyone can talk. Where China, Russia, Europe, the developing world can come together and resolve conflicts.”
He added, “I’m confident we can make the UN great again.”
The UN is facing its worst financial crisis in decades, driven partly by deep US budget cuts to UN entities as well as Washington’s delays in paying its annual mandated dues. Since the start of the new US administration under President Donald Trump six months ago, many UN agencies and programs have been forced to scale back operations significantly, including through layoffs, to manage funding shortfalls.
In response to the mounting liquidity crisis, UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched a reform initiative, known as UN80, in March. So far, it is in the early stages of deciding how to make financial cuts across the system globally to make the UN more efficient and deflect criticism for being wasteful and duplicating work. Nevertheless, the UN has informed staff of plans to eliminate some 7,000 jobs from the 35,000-strong Secretariat alone.
The US is the largest contributor to the UN general operating budget, based on its GDP and calculated through General Assembly resolutions, contributing about 22 percent. The US is also mandated to pay about 25 percent of the UN’s annual peacekeeping budget, making it the top contributor to this sector as well. The US currently owes approximately $1.5 billion in arrears to the UN regular budget and $1.2 billion to peacekeeping. The payments did not come up in the Senate hearing.
Instead, Waltz told the committee that the real problem with the UN is structural bloat and unaccountable spending. “UN budget and overall revenue have quadrupled in the last 20 years,” he said. “Yet, I would argue, we have not seen a quadrupling of world peace. It has not been commensurate. The US pays more than 183 countries combined.”
He added: “The UN has ballooned to over 80 agencies with overlapping missions that waste resources and have confirmed our push for transparency, like what we’re seeing in the secretary-general’s UN 80 reform plan calling for a 20 percent staff cut.”
Yet on the matter of UN waste, Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nev) asked Waltz about reports that he has continued to be paid his salary ($195,200 annually) for his White House role since he was forced out by Signalgate in March, to which Waltz called “fake news.”
While Waltz openly confirmed that US funding at the UN would be spent on select projects that directly benefit Washington’s interests, Maya Ungar, a UN analyst and researcher at the International Crisis Group think tank, said his remarks also allayed fears that Washington would withdraw from the world body itself. Since Trump took office, he has withdrawn the US from the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council, among other detachments from UN entities.
“Recent Trump officials’ confirmation hearings, including Mike Waltz, have quieted some worries about a full disengagement from the UN,” she told PassBlue in an email on July 15. “However, even with limited support, the loss of the bulk of U.S. funding to the UN will shake the already weak foundations of the organization.”
In Waltz’s hearing, another key focus for him besides UN “bloat” was peacekeeping, which he believes has drifted too far into nation-building with little to show for the billions of dollars spent on peace operations globally. The approved budget for UN peacekeeping operations for 2024- 2025 is $5.6 billion, of which the US owes $985.2 million.
“I’ve talked to a number of you about this during our visits,” Waltz said, addressing the Senate committee. “They cost billions, [involve] tens of thousands of soldiers. We’ve had two [missions] that have been around since the 1940s with no mandate renewal in sight. We must press the Security Council on length, cost, clear end states and focusing on peacekeeping, not nation building.”
(The two missions that have existed since the 1940s are UNMOGIP, in the contested region of Jammu and Kashmir, and UNTSO, a truce supervisory mission in Jerusalem.)
Waltz also said he would tackle anti-Semitism if he is confirmed as ambassador. While fielding a question from Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), on how Waltz plans to reverse the “bias against Israel” at the UN, he said, “First and foremost, UNRWA has to go.”
“It simply not only needs to be defunded, which the president has put in place with his executive order, but it should be dismantled,” Waltz said. Trump signed the order on Feb. 4, instructing the US to stop making any funding contributions to UNRWA, extending a Congressional ban in 2024.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, created by the General Assembly in 1949, provides approximately six million people with such services as aid, education and health care in the occupied Palestinian territories as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Despite strong criticism for Waltz’s involvement in the Signalgate controversy as national security adviser, there was some bipartisan agreement on the importance of America’s presence at the UN. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), ranking member of the committee, said that US leadership in the organization is essential.
“Expanding footprint threatens safety and prosperity,” she said. “That’s why Americans need a voice, not only at the UN Security Council, but at the International Civil Aviation Organization, which ensures air spaces remain safe. We cannot shape these organizations or even push for the reforms that we want unless we’re at the table.”
As was the case during the confirmation hearing of US Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), whose nomination was withdrawn by Trump in March because he wanted her to stay in her post in the House of Representatives, there was bipartisan agreement on the perceived need to reduce China’s influence at the UN. Waltz said that “countering China” is “critical” and that it would be a top priority of his as US envoy.
Despite the bipartisan concern about China at the UN, Waltz could not escape scrutiny by Democrats for his role in Signalgate and what Cory Booker (D-NJ) called Waltz’s lack of integrity and dishonesty. “At a moment where our national security was clearly compromised, you denied, you deflected, and then you demeaned and degraded those people who objectively told the truth and criticized your actions,” Booker said.
“I cannot support your nomination. I think you’ve shown a failure of leadership at a time that America especially needs people of honor to stand up and show what leadership actually is.”
While Booker said he wouldn’t support Waltz’s nomination, Waltz enjoys strong backing from Republican colleagues, and at least one UN ambassador is welcoming him to Turtle Bay.
“I think we all look forward to seeing him,” Bob Rae of Canada said. “It’s been a while to get him here.”
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Damilola Banjo is an award-winning staff reporter for PassBlue who has covered a wide range of topics, from Africa-centered stories to gender equality to UN peacekeeping and US-UN relations. She also oversees all video production for PassBlue. She was a Dag Hammarskjold fellow in 2023 and a Pulitzer Center postgraduate fellow in 2021. She was part of the BBC Africa team that produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, “Sex for Grades.” In addition, she worked for WFAE, an NPR affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Banjo has a master’s of science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and an undergraduate degree from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
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Mike Waltz’s emphasis on UN reform and curbing China’s influence resonates with longstanding concerns—but achieving these goals demands more than rhetoric and budget cuts. True reform and global impact require principled leadership. The U.S. cannot expect voting loyalty at the UN if it signals retreat from addressing the world’s gravest challenges. Climate change, pandemic preparedness, food security, and threats from space such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are not just humanitarian concerns—they are direct national security issues.
Ceding ground on these challenges to rivals like China by denying their urgency forfeits the very leadership the U.S. seeks to assert.
If the U.S. instead stepped forward with visionary, collaborative policy leadership—and nominated a top-tier diplomat as its UN ambassador—it could guide reform, inspire confidence, and win allies not through coercion, but through shared purpose. Fighting antisemitism at the UN also demands consistency with international law; if Israeli actions are seen as violating the UN Charter, then reformers risk undermining their own credibility.
Yes, financial accountability is essential. But without credible, forward-looking U.S. engagement, even full funding won’t be enough. The world is watching not what the U.S. cuts, but what it builds.