Diplomats and United Nations officials have been working behind the scenes in recent weeks to convince the Trump administration not to sever ties with the UN’s refugee agency, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
Eight sources — including diplomats, aid workers, and a congressional source — told Reuters that Washington has been considering pulling away from the agency known as UNHCR. The United States has historically been the agency’s largest financial backer. Several sources said a decision had been anticipated last week, but no announcement came, raising hopes that the diplomatic pressure may have helped postpone or prevent a break.
Reuters agreed to keep the sources anonymous due to the sensitive nature of U.S.-UN relations.
Five sources said the discussions about leaving UNHCR — an organization founded after World War Two to assist people fleeing war, persecution, and violence — stem from a disagreement over who was appointed to a top leadership position within the agency. Those sources also said UNHCR had warned its supporters that it could end up on a U.S. blacklist, cutting off funding entirely, and that Washington might also pull out of the agency’s governing Executive Committee.
Aid officials and diplomats warned that any loss of U.S. funding would seriously damage the agency at a time when global displacement is near record levels, driven by long-running conflicts in places like Ukraine and Sudan.
“People have been alerted by UNHCR to call friends in the administration,” a source at an aid organization involved in the discussions told Reuters. “They are at least thinking about it,” the source added, noting that many had already made those calls.
A second diplomat said UNHCR officials had, within the past week, asked supporters to use every available diplomatic channel to press the United States to maintain its involvement.
A spokesperson for the UN refugee agency did not respond to a request for comment. “We have no comment on this issue because we have no information on it,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
A State Department spokesperson said Washington’s relationship with UNHCR has not changed. “As with many other international organizations, we work with and through UNHCR when doing so is useful to advance U.S. foreign policy interests or save lives,” the spokesperson said, adding: “We will continue to evaluate the United States’ role in international organizations…” — a reference to a February 2025 executive order directing a review of U.S. participation and funding in international bodies.
Since returning to office last year, President Donald Trump has slashed funding to various UN agencies and withdrawn the United States from dozens of UN entities, including the World Health Organization. Trump administration officials have also pushed other countries to join an effort to scale back asylum protections worldwide.
A Leadership Dispute at the Center
The tension traces back to last month’s selection of U.S. career diplomat Tressa Rae Finerty as UNHCR’s deputy high commissioner.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih chose Finerty over Simon Hankinson, a candidate backed by Washington and a former foreign service officer who has publicly accused UNHCR of pushing “a mass migration agenda.”
“If they wanted reform, a return to UNHCR’s original mission of helping actual refugees, and a careful inspection of budgets and spending, I was the guy,” Hankinson told Reuters, describing Finerty as a “business as usual” candidate.
Reuters was unable to reach Finerty for comment.
A former senior UNHCR official said Salih — himself a former Iraqi president and a refugee — would have faced internal “uproar” if he had chosen Hankinson instead.
Other UN bodies, including the International Labour Organization, have also struggled with similar dilemmas about appointing U.S. officials amid uncertainty over Washington’s commitment to international cooperation.
Andrew Veprek, Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, who has publicly expressed anti-migration views, played a role in supporting Hankinson’s candidacy, according to two of the sources. The State Department declined to comment on his involvement.
Financial Stakes Are High
The United States was UNHCR’s top donor in 2025, contributing $868 million — roughly a quarter of the agency’s total funding, according to UNHCR figures.
The agency is already dealing with a serious financial crunch after available funding dropped by approximately 30% in 2025 compared to the prior year. Thousands of jobs have been cut, with more reductions announced this year.
Diplomats and aid officials said a complete U.S. exit would deepen that crisis and undermine the 1951 Refugee Convention, which serves as the foundation of the global refugee protection system established after World War Two.
“Rethinking it would be an existential threat for UNHCR,” the former UNHCR official said. “It could have a massive knock-on effect.”
