U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum officially withdrawing the United States from or completely halting support for a total of 66 international organizations, including UN agencies. [AFP=Yonhap News]

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on the 7th (local time) officially withdrawing the United States from or completely halting support for a total of 66 international organizations, including UN agencies.

This is interpreted as a more extensive form of the "America First" policy than during his first term.

The scope of this measure includes 31 UN agencies and 35 non-UN international organizations, with many environmental and social organizations such as the △United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) △Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) △United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) △International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) being included.

However, the United States plans to maintain its influence in some strategic organizations where international standards and technological competition are fierce, such as the △International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the △International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The White House and the State Department emphasized that this measure was an unavoidable choice to protect U.S. national interests.

The White House criticized, "These organizations have pursued 'radical climate policies' and a 'global governance agenda' that conflict with U.S. sovereignty," and "They have focused solely on criticizing U.S. policies without overlapping activities or substantial achievements."

It also announced, "We will save billions of dollars in budget borne by U.S. taxpayers and reallocate it to domestic priorities for the United States."

The U.S. Republican Party and conservative right-wing groups in the U.S. are enthusiastically welcoming the move, calling it a "historic decision that protects the U.S. economy and restores sovereignty from the tyranny of international organizations."

Given that the Trump administration had already withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNESCO and halted support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the withdrawal from these 66 organizations is being interpreted as a virtual declaration of the 'end of multilateral diplomacy'.

Reporter Im Yo-hee