Will Mike Waltz lead a ‘full-frontal assault’ on the UN?

When and if Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, takes up the post, many are concerned that in his pursuit of the rehabilitation of his image, global development will not be a priority.

Diplomats work for decades to be considered for the coveted position of ambassador, but in this case the role is a consolation prize for the 51-year-old former army colonel from Florida, says Richard Gowan, UN director of International Crisis Group. Gowan believes Waltz will be “very performative” as he attempts to rebuild his political brand after the scandal of reportedly adding a journalist to a Signal chat that contained sensitive information on planned military strikes in Yemen.

He will have to follow the line coming from Washington, says Gowan. “There is a history of American politicians using the UN as a way to burnish their domestic credentials.”

Global development professionals are concerned about what a hawkish Republican wanting to regain favour post-scandal could mean for the UN at a time when Trump is already causing significant damage to aid and development work.

In a Senate confirmation hearing this week, Waltz said he would push for transparency and reforms within the UN while pursuing an “America first” agenda that would see the US ensuring “that every foreign aid dollar and every contribution to an international organisation, particularly the UN, draws a straight and direct line to a compelling US national interest”.

Since January, the US has withdrawn its funding from several UN agencies, called for reviews of its involvement in all UN treaties and stopped engaging with the UN human rights council. Simultaneously, it has dismantled much of its own USAID agency.

The US has historically been the largest donor to the UN. “This has put the UN in a huge financial crisis,” says Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, adding that it compromises humanitarian and human rights work globally.

The appointment could also jeopardise global targets such as the sustainable development goals, says Beth Schlachter, senior director of US external relations at the family planning non-profit MSI Reproductive Choices. The Trump administration has denounced the goals as “adverse to the rights and interests of Americans”, and Schlachter believes its anti-rights stance influenced the omission of sexual and reproductive health rights from a UN political declaration on the human rights of women and girls this year. “How is there an agreement on women’s issues if you don’t agree to include that?” she asks.

There was once consensus among member states on foundational UN agreements, and disagreements were about new additions, but now, led by the US, the basics can’t even be agreed upon, says Schlachter. With that in mind, the US is “staffing themselves to be able to pull things down”, she says.

Waltz, who was vocal in his support for the 2022 Dobbs decision which upended Roe v Wade, limiting a woman’s right to an abortion in the US, and questioned the UN’s work on climate change at this week’s hearing, is of particular concern. Many UN projects focus on providing access to sexual health and reproductive rights and combatting the impact of global warming.

He has, however, also shown support for human rights. In 2021, he was among the first members of Congress to call for the US to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in protest at China’s treatment of the Uyghur ethnic minority group. He told the Senate that the US needs a strong voice to counter China and if he is able to take a strong stance on China’s abuse of human rights and push these issues at the UN, that would be great, says Charbonneau.

In New York, UN officials and diplomats are simply happy at the prospect of the role being filled, says Gowan. It has been vacant since Trump took office in January. “And there’s been no real political representative of the White House here that other countries can bargain with … [or] who represents Trump that [António] Guterres can talk to,” he says.

But that doesn’t stop experts fearing that at the annual UN general assembly in September, Waltz will lead “an incredibly damaging full-frontal assault on the UN, its legitimacy as an organisation and the specific things that they don’t like – clearly everything related to women”, says Schlachter.