MAGA? Ha!
Today’s US withdrawal from the World Health Organization is one more step in a deliberate pattern of dismantling the web of institutions, agreements, and alliances through which the United States projects power and protects its people. Instead of leading from the inside and shaping outcomes, Trump repeatedly chooses exit, rupture, and abandonment. Each withdrawal narrows U.S. influence, hands initiative to competitors, and tells partners that American is unreliable and its commitments can be revoked on impulse. He has paired these exits with relentless attacks on NATO, his idiotic demands to take Greenland, sowing doubt about collective defense and encouraging adversaries to test the alliance that has underwritten European and American security for generations, while advancing outcomes that align closely with Moscow’s strategic interests. The cumulative effect is a United States that is less present in global decision making, less trusted by allies, and less capable of organizing collective action in crises that do not respect borders. In a networked world, serious power runs through durable coalitions and rule-setting bodies. By severing those ties, Trump is not making America stronger. He is making it smaller, easier to ignore, and simply insignificant.
Checklist: U.S. Withdrawals and Withdrawal Directives Under Donald Trump
Completed withdrawals or formal exits
Trade / migration
☐ Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — Jan. 23, 2017
☐ UN Global Compact on Migration process — Dec. 3, 2017 UN / multilateral bodies
☐ UN Human Rights Council — June 2018
☐ UN Human Rights Council (second withdrawal order) — Feb. 4, 2025 Nuclear / arms control
☐ JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal) — May 8, 2018
☐ INF Treaty — Aug. 2, 2019
☐ Treaty on Open Skies — Nov. 22, 2020 Climate
☐ Paris Agreement (first withdrawal effective) — Nov. 4, 2020
☐ Paris Agreement (second withdrawal effective) — Jan. 27, 2026 UNESCO
☐ UNESCO (first withdrawal effective) — Dec. 31, 2018
☐ UNESCO (second withdrawal scheduled) — Dec. 31, 2026 World Health Organization
☐ WHO — Jan. 22, 2026
January 7, 2026 memorandum: 35 non-UN organizations
☐ 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact
☐ Colombo Plan Council ☐ Commission for Environmental Cooperation
☐ Education Cannot Wait
☐ European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats
☐ Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories
☐ Freedom Online Coalition
☐ Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund
☐ Global Counterterrorism Forum
☐ Global Forum on Cyber Expertise ☐ Global Forum on Migration and Development
☐ Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research
☐ Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development
☐ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
☐ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
☐ International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
☐ International Cotton Advisory Committee
☐ International Development Law Organization
☐ International Energy Forum
☐ International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies
☐ International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
☐ International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law
☐ International Lead and Zinc Study Group
☐ International Renewable Energy Agency
☐ International Solar Alliance ☐ International Tropical Timber Organization
☐ International Union for Conservation of Nature
☐ Pan American Institute of Geography and History
☐ Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation
☐ Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia
☐ Regional Cooperation Council ☐ Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century
☐ Science and Technology Center in Ukraine
☐ Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
☐ Venice Commission of the Council of Europe
January 7, 2026 memorandum: 31 UN organizations/entities
☐ UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
☐ ECOSOC — Economic Commission for Africa
☐ ECOSOC — Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
☐ ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
☐ ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
☐ International Law Commission
☐ International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
☐ International Trade Centre
☐ Office of the Special Adviser on Africa
☐ Office of the SRSG for Children in Armed Conflict
☐ Office of the SRSG on Sexual Violence in Conflict
☐ Office of the SRSG on Violence Against Children
☐ Peacebuilding Commission ☐ Peacebuilding Fund
☐ Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
☐ UN Alliance of Civilizations
☐ UN Collaborative Programme on REDD+
☐ UN Conference on Trade and Development
☐ UN Democracy Fund
☐ UN Energy
☐ UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)
☐ UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
☐ UN Human Settlements Programme
☐ UN Institute for Training and Research
☐ UN Oceans
☐ UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
☐ UN Register of Conventional Arms
☐ UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination
☐ UN System Staff College
☐ UN Water
☐ UN University