Colin Sheridan: America walks away from international institutions — and maybe it’s for the best

Trump’s withdrawal from global institutions exposes a brutally transactional worldview — and offers the rest of the world a chance to move on

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres speaking at the United Nations headquarters. 'It’s long past time the United Nations itself left New York. Of its own volition. Before it’s kicked out.' Picture: Adam Gray/AP 

“You got to have a J-O-B if you wanna be with me.” — Gwen Guthrie, Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ on but the Rent

There’s nothing quite like the burning cocktail of irritation, disbelief, and Oh-please-no-not-do-this-again that comes when someone you’ve been desperately, silently trying to break up with finally — finally — breaks up with you first.

Well, congratulations world. This week, the United States, fresh from kidnapping the leader of another, sovereign country, and under the enlightened leadership of president Donald J Trump, found time to serve the ultimate breakup memo to the international community: Sixty-six global organisations, including a host of United Nations bodies and international treaties, no longer “serve US interests” and will henceforth be shown the door.

“It’s not me, it’s you,” the White House said in a long-winded social media post akin to something a Love Island contestant might put out announcing the dissolution of a relationship that was birthed in a hot tub on live television.

No more wasting taxpayer dollars on globalist agendas.

The United States will LEAVE 66 total (35 Non UN, 31 UN) organizations that no longer serve the best interests of the country. pic.twitter.com/Vbe9ZtlYjh

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 8, 2026

 

Forgive the segue, but the 1986 Gwen Guthrie hit Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ on but the Rent seems to form the spine of the administration’s decision-making process.

“No romance without finance, I said no romance without finance, No romance without finance, I said no romance without finance (without finance)”

Forget the Monroe Doctrine, this song pretty much encapsulates American foreign policy.

For those keeping score at home, the list of abandoned suitors includes everything from climate co-operation frameworks to democracy and peacebuilding bodies tucked under the UN umbrella.

The Trump administration insists these organisations promote “radical climate agendas,” global governance, and general un-Americanness. See, we can even just make up words now!

And yet, in the midst of this unilateral breakup, one must ask: Who in their right mind wanted this relationship? Look at the track record. From Venezuela to Gaza, Iran to domestic agencies like ICE; from the relentless undermining of international human-rights standards to a foreign policy that alternates between bluster and chaos — America’s romantic gestures on the world stage have been, at best, questionable. Sinister love-bombing.

There was a time when global co-operation meant something more than a revolving door of sanctions, tweets, military bluster, and blatant self-interest.

The United States has, for decades, played the world’s most exhausting partner, the one who insists on taking up all the bedcovers, criticises the breakfast you serve them, then gets angry when you dare ask them to pet-sit your cat. 

Gaslighting the UN

It gaslights the United Nations, funds just enough to keep its seat but not its conscience, then blames everyone else for the resulting dysfunction.

And when Europe, the UN and others respond with polite, stuttering “statements of concern” — well, that’s what you get when you’ve spent decades behaving like the diplomatic equivalent of an in-laws visit that never ends.

Behind all this, of course, is the inevitable truth buried somewhere between the footnotes: It’s all about the money. It always is. The official memo brags about “saving taxpayer dollars” by ditching organisations that are “contrary to US interests”.

Nicolas Maduro is seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed Federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on January 5, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by XNY/Star Max/GC Images)

But let’s be frank: This was never about efficiency, efficacy, or even good governance. This was about power and optics. About telling domestic audiences that international co-operation is, somehow, charity to everyone else but not us. Meanwhile the US continues to owe billions in assessments to UN bodies it has dictated terms to for decades.

Knowing when to leave

And here’s another thought: It’s long past time the United Nations itself left New York. 

Of its own volition. Before it’s kicked out. Why should the world’s diplomatic centre be hostage to a government that regards the entire institution as an over-entitled ex?

America has spent decades gaslighting the UN, undermining its credibility, then demanding credit for whatever scraps of leadership it chooses to honour. If the UN wants to earn respect, it should start by moving its headquarters somewhere that doesn’t require a diplomatic invitation and a visa waiver.

Yet, despite all this, many of America’s “so-called partners” act like subservient wallflowers at a grotesque dinner party: The EU’s tepid mumblings on Venezuela or Middle East abuses read like love notes written in invisible ink, apologising for daring to exist without a US foreword.

European leaders quake at the prospect of angering Washington in the same breath that they waffle about sovereignty and principles.

Well guess what? 

Trump has handed the international community the breakup it was too polite to deliver. He’s left the cellar door ajar. The world doesn’t have to crawl back under that roof once he inevitably changes his mind — because he will.

This is Donald Trump, the man who treats international accords like gym memberships: Cancel today, sign up with a different email address tomorrow if the mood — or the polling — suits him.

So, let’s do something radical. Let’s walk out that door. Let’s stop pretending that America’s latest fit of unilateral self-absorption is anything other than what it is: the dramatic exit of a partner who has never really shown up. Let’s grow up, cop on, and progressively decouple from an alliance that has become more exhausting than enlightening.

Forget Gwen Guthrie, I chose Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas. No drama. We don’t want no drama.

Breakups are hard. But liberation is worth the awkward coffee dates afterwards.