Donald Trump delivers a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025. Under Trump’s leadership, the United States has used its financial leverage over the UN to incentivize reforms. (The White House/Daniel Torok)

How Donald Trump Can Reinvigorate His UN Strategy

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The Trump administration’s approach to UN reform has delivered a string of admirable successes—but it is losing steam.

On Tuesday, September 22, President Donald Trump will address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). In his first-ever address to the UNGA in 2017, Trump thanked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “for recognizing that the United Nations must reform if it is to be an effective partner in confronting threats to sovereignty, security, and prosperity.”

Nine years later, that record of reform falls very short. It’s time for the president to remind the world that absent a genuine overhaul, the world body risks bankruptcy and irrelevance.

America’s UN Reforms Are (Slowly) Working

There are glimmers of hope. At UN headquarters in New York, Ambassador Mike Waltz and his team effectively used US influence to pressure the UN to bend to US priorities. The United States pressed the Security Council to sunset the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), endorse a Moroccan proposal to resolve the autonomy of Western Sahara, secure UN support for a Gang Suppression Force in Haiti, and endorse the Board of Peace to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza. Washington also successfully pressed the secretary general to impose a 15........

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