Trump told Politico, ‘The U.N. is not leaving New York, and it’s not leaving the United States, because the U.N. has tremendous potential.’
President Donald Trump has denied that the United Nations will have to close its headquarters in New York City for financial reasons, and he has talked of the organization’s “tremendous potential.”
“When I’m no longer around to settle wars, the U.N. can. It has tremendous potential. Tremendous,” Trump told Politico on Feb. 1.
On Jan. 28, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres wrote a letter to member states warning them of the U.N.’s parlous financial situation.
“The crisis is deepening, threatening programme delivery and risking financial collapse. And the situation will deteriorate further in the near future,” Guterres wrote.
The New York Times reported on Jan. 30, citing unnamed senior U.N. officials, that the U.N. might run out of money by July and be forced to close its headquarters by August because of the nonpayment of dues by several member countries, including the United States.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate. The U.N. is not leaving New York, and it’s not leaving the United States, because the U.N. has tremendous potential,” Trump said, according to Politico.
An unedited transcript of the call has not yet been released.
Guterres—whose second five-year term will run out in December—warned in October 2025 that the organization faces a “race to bankruptcy” unless member states paid their dues in full, and on time.
Last year, the U.N. budget was cut, and the number of people employed by the organization was reduced from 13,809 to 11,594.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, $1.87 billion was still owed to the U.N. by member states, of which nearly $1.5 billion was from the United States.
Trump Offers to Solve the Problem
Trump, speaking from Florida, told Politico he was unaware that the United States owed money to the U.N. but said he was sure he could “solve the problem very easily” if the U.N. asked him.
“If they came to Trump and told him, I’d get everybody to pay up, just like I got NATO to pay up. All I have to do is call these countries,” he said. “They would send checks within minutes.”
