Ngaire Woods

OXFORD – After withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump may pull the country out of more international institutions in the coming months. Notably,

– the blueprint for his second presidency, developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation – calls for the U.S. to exit the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Rather than acceding to Trump’s demands, member countries should recognize that a U.S. withdrawal would primarily harm the U.S. and leverage that to negotiate on their own terms.

On February 4, Trump ordered a sweeping 180-day review of all international organizations to which the U.S. belongs and supports, as well as “all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party.” The directive aligns with the goals of Project 2025, which dismisses the IMF and World Bank as “expensive middlemen” that “intercept” US funding before they reach projects abroad. If Trump follows this playbook, a US exit would be imminent.

But Project 2025’s authors have clearly misunderstood how these institutions are funded and run. By abandoning the IMF and the World Bank, the U.S. would lose a key source of global influence and economic leverage. In effect, the U.S. would forfeit vital tools for supporting its partners – and withholding financing from its foes.

The proximity of the IMF and World Bank headquarters to the U.S. State Department, Treasury, and Congress is no coincidence.........

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