Secretary-General Says Trump’s Boycott Has Left UN “On Brink of Bankruptcy”

The United Nations is on the brink of bankruptcy after Donald Trump cut funding, according to the organizations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

Urging countries to pay their dues, the UN chief said that the organization was at risk of “imminent financial collapse” and could run out of cash by July.

BBC reports: He wrote in a letter to all 193 member states that theyhad to honour their mandatory payments or overhaul the organisation’s financial rules to avoid collapse.

It comes afterthe UN’s largest contributor, the US, refused to contribute to its regular and peacekeeping budgets, and withdrew from several agencies it called a “waste of taxpayer dollars”. Several other members are in arrears or are simply refusing to pay.

Though the UN General Assembly did approve a partial change to its financial system in late 2025, the organisation still faces a massive cash crisis compounded by a rule that means it is refunding money it never received.

At its headquarters in Geneva, signs warning of the situation have been put up everywhere. In an almost desperate attempt to save cash, the escalators are regularly turned off and the heating turned down.

Guterres wrote in his letter that the UN had faced financial crises in the past but that the current situation was “categorically different”.

“Decisions not to honour assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved regular budget have now been formally announced,” the secretary general said, without naming specific members.

He said the “integrity of the entire system” depended on states adhering to their obligation under the UN charter to pay their “assessed contributions” – adding that 77% of the total owed had been paid in 2025, leaving a record amount unpaid.

Guterres said a rule that the UN must return unspent money on particular programmes to members if it could not implement a budget created a “double blow” in which it was “expected to give back cash that does not exist”.

“I cannot overstate the urgency of the situation we now face. We cannot execute budgets with uncollected funds, nor return funds we never received.”

As a result, the UN is now returning millions of dollars it never actually had.

The letter reads: “Just this month, as part of the 2026 assessment, we were compelled to return $227m [£165m] – funds we have not collected.”

“The bottom line is clear,” Guterres wrote.”Either all member states honour their obligations to pay in full and on time – or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse.”

The Telegraph has the story,