By Deborah Nnamdi
The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) told AFP on Thursday that they are no longer included among the entities affected by the White House’s latest round of foreign aid reductions.
Last Friday, President Donald Trump’s Republican administration announced it was cancelling $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, drawing strong criticism from Democrats. A memo outlining the cuts stated that the administration was “committed to getting America’s fiscal house in order by cutting government spending that is woke, weaponised, and wasteful.”
Among the initial targets were several international organizations, including the ILO and WTO, with proposed cuts of $107 million and $29 million respectively. Trump, who has significantly scaled back the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) since returning to office in January, had included both Geneva-based agencies in the proposed reductions.
However, by Wednesday, the WTO had been removed from the list, and the ILO followed on Thursday.
“We are aware of the removal of the International Labour Organization from a U.S. administration memo released on August 29,” an ILO spokesperson told AFP. “We are seeking more information on what this latest development means for the ILO.”
The WTO also confirmed to AFP that it was “not on the funding cut list anymore.”
No official explanation was provided for why the two organizations were quietly removed from the final version of the White House document.
Earlier this week, the ILO said that following Trump’s earlier executive orders cutting foreign aid, most U.S.-funded ILO projects were ordered to close. Of the 229 staff working on those projects, 190 initially received termination notices. However, more than half were eventually reassigned to other programs, according to an ILO spokesperson.
The U.S. remains the largest contributor to the WTO, providing 23 million Swiss francs ($28.5 million) this year — about 11.4% of its total budget. Washington also funds 22% of the ILO’s regular budget.
Despite this, the United States has yet to pay its contributions for 2024 or 2025 to either organization — a delay that is not uncommon among member states.
