UN lays out survival plan as Trump threatens to slash funding

US, which is biggest sponsor of world body, has already pulled out of various agencies

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NEW YORK - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is slashing more than US$700 million (S$900 million) in spending and laying plans to overhaul the United Nations as its largest sponsor, the US, pulls back support.

Mr Guterres' plan calls for 20 percent cuts in expenditure and employment, which would bring its budget, now US$3.7 billion, to the lowest since 2018. About 3,000 jobs would be cut.

Officially, the reform programme is pegged to the UN's 80th anniversary, not the new US administration. But the scale of the reductions reflects the threat to US support, which traditionally accounts for 22 percent of the organisation's budget.

US President Donald Trump has suspended that funding and pulled out of several UN bodies already, with a broader review expected to lead to further cuts.

"We're not going to be part of organisations that pursue policies that hamper the United States," State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott told reporters on July 31.