Beijing has stated that it intends to fulfill its financial obligations.
The United Nations is on the brink of financial collapse due to delays in mandatory payments from its two largest donors — the United States and China, which together account for 42% of the organization's budget. According to The Wall Street Journal, if the situation does not change, the organization will run out of funds by mid-August.
The United States' debt to the UN amounts to 4 billion dollars. The administration of President Donald Trump, according to the publication, has already withdrawn from several dozen UN programs, including the World Health Organization (WHO), as part of its efforts to combat wastefulness. Washington links further financial support to demands for cuts in the organization's expenses, particularly — reducing staff and implementing machine translation instead of relying on human translators.
China, which calls itself the main defender of the UN and the actual leader in financial contributions, nevertheless has a debt of 455 million dollars. Beijing has stated that it intends to fulfill its financial obligations.
About 70% of the UN's expenses go towards employee salaries. Amid the crisis, the secretariat has already closed some offices, eliminated three thousand positions, and reduced the working hours of translators.
Trump has repeatedly spoken negatively about the UN. For instance, in September 2025, the US president criticized the UN from the podium of the General Assembly for its lack of assistance in foreign policy. He reiterated his claim that he has "ended seven wars" since his return to office.
"The UN has enormous potential. I have always said this," the president stated. "It seems they only write letters with very harsh wording, and then they do nothing to implement them. These are empty words, and empty words do not solve the problem of war. The only thing that can solve the problem of war is action."
Trump took credit for ending seven wars, listing conflicts from Pakistan and India to Israel and the 12-day war in Iran. However, at that time, no one knew that in 2026, Americans would kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and start their own war with Iran.
"It's very sad that I had to do all this instead of the United Nations doing it," he said.
He questioned the purpose of the UN's existence.
"What is the purpose of the United Nations?" he asked and suggested that other countries follow the example of the United States. "We can look forward to a significantly better future. But to achieve it, we must abandon the failed approaches of the past and work together to confront some of the most serious threats in history."
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