U.S. Plans $850 Million Payment Toward Roughly $5 Billion in U.N. Arrears

The U.S. government has notified Congress that it plans to pay $850 million toward several billion dollars in unpaid United Nations dues, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The payment would be the largest the Trump administration has directed to the world body since returning to office, but it would still cover only part of the U.S. backlog.

AP reported that State Department notifications sent to lawmakers this month would allocate $725 million to the U.N. regular budget and $125 million to peacekeeping operations in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The outlet said the United States is behind by about $5 billion overall, including more than $2 billion for the regular budget and roughly $3 billion tied to peacekeeping.

Reuters separately reported that it reviewed an Aug. 4 State Department notification covering the $725 million regular-budget component. As of Aug. 21, Reuters said the money had not yet been transferred. A U.S. official told the news agency that future payments would remain contingent on continued U.N. reforms, making the planned release both a financing decision and part of Washington’s broader effort to press the organization for spending and structural changes.

Payment would still leave most U.S. arrears outstanding

The size of the backlog has grown through a period in which Washington sharply reduced payments to the organization. AP reported that the administration made a $160 million payment in February after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a severe cash crisis, but it otherwise left a large amount of assessed contributions unpaid. The new $850 million plan would therefore reduce the debt without bringing the United States close to current.

Figures reported at different points this year show how large the gap has become. Reuters, citing U.N. figures from May, said Washington then owed more than $4 billion, including $2.04 billion for the regular budget, $2.2 billion for current and past peacekeeping missions and $44 million for U.N. tribunals. The newer AP report put total U.S. arrears at about $5 billion. Those are time-specific snapshots rather than a single fixed balance, since assessments, payments and mission financing continue to change during the year.

Official U.N. assessment documents also show why U.S. payment timing matters so much to the organization’s cash position. The U.N.’s 2026 regular-budget assessment schedule assigns the United States a 22% share of the regular budget. The detailed 2026 schedule lists a gross U.S. regular-budget contribution of about $760.3 million, before a separate peacebuilding contribution. That makes the $725 million regular-budget amount in the congressional notice large in annual terms, even though the accumulated arrears extend beyond a single year’s assessment.

The regular budget and peacekeeping budget are accounted for separately. The regular budget finances the core work of the Secretariat and other approved U.N. activities, while peacekeeping operations are funded through separate assessments and budget cycles. That distinction explains why the State Department notices divide the planned payment into two pieces rather than treating the $850 million as a single unrestricted contribution.

U.N. cash pressure has already forced budget changes

The planned U.S. payment arrives after months of warnings from U.N. officials that late and missing assessments were pushing the institution toward a cash crunch. In June, the president of the General Assembly said a change to the organization’s financial rules had helped avoid an imminent collapse by allowing the U.N. to retain credits that otherwise would have been returned to member states. The measure covered more than $900 million connected to peacekeeping and about $400 million tied to the regular budget.

That accounting change bought the organization room, but it did not remove the underlying dependence on member payments. The General Assembly president said the reform did not solve the problem of countries failing to meet financial obligations on time and in full. U.N. officials have repeatedly warned that cash shortages can force spending restrictions, hiring freezes and reductions in implementation even when the General Assembly has already authorized the budget.

The organization has also been cutting costs through its UN80 reform program. An official U.N. briefing in July said the Secretariat’s 2026 budget had been reduced by 9.2%. Separate UN80 materials describe a 21% reduction in staff positions in revised 2026 Secretariat budgets and plans to shift hundreds of Secretariat posts from high-cost duty stations, with a broader relocation of positions across the U.N. system. Those changes predate the latest U.S. payment notice and reflect both reform pressure and the institution’s funding constraints.

The $850 million plan could improve near-term liquidity because assessed contributions provide cash for approved operations. It does not resolve the larger mismatch between what the U.N. says Washington owes and what the administration is currently prepared to release. Reuters reported that a State Department official described U.S. payments as contingent on continued reforms, indicating that future funding decisions may remain incremental rather than automatic.

Washington is tying multilateral funding to reform demands

The payment also fits within a broader change in U.S. policy toward international organizations. In January, President Donald Trump directed agencies to withdraw from dozens of international bodies and U.N. entities after an administration review concluded that they did not serve U.S. interests. The White House memorandum ordered withdrawals from 66 organizations in total, including 31 U.N. entities, and directed agencies to cease participation or funding where permitted by law.

That action built on a February 2025 executive order that had already required a review of U.S. support for international organizations and restricted funding for specific U.N. bodies. The administration has argued that American contributions should be tied more closely to U.S. priorities, lower costs and stronger oversight. U.N. officials, for their part, have emphasized that assessed contributions are obligations approved by member states and that delayed payments can impair implementation of budgets those same governments authorized.

AP reported that the Aug. 4 funding notices drew some initial resistance from Republicans on Capitol Hill. One concern, according to the outlet, was whether the proposed releases went far enough in maintaining restrictions on funding connected to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Lawmakers had not decided how to respond when AP published its report, leaving a political layer around the transfer even after the State Department formally notified Congress.

The administration’s approach therefore combines selective payment with continued pressure for changes inside the U.N. The White House has cut or ended support for a range of international bodies, while U.S. officials have pointed to budget reductions and restructuring at the U.N. as evidence that pressure is producing results. The U.N. has been pursuing its own reform agenda at the same time, making it difficult to attribute individual cost cuts to any single government’s demands.

As of Aug. 21, Reuters reported that the $725 million regular-budget transfer had not yet occurred. Execution of the notified funds is therefore the immediate next step, followed by the question of whether the administration authorizes additional payments toward the remaining arrears.