The U.S. pays about 22% of the U.N. budget, yet critics say it gets little in return, arguing that the body is dominated by non-democracies, hostile to American interests, and fixated on condemning Israel.

President Donald Trump told reporters in February that the U.N. has “got great potential...but they got to get their act together. It’s not being well run, and they’re not doing the job.”

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, told Fox News Digital, “Calls for the U.S. to leave the U.N. reflect the deep frustration of millions of Americans who see their tax dollars funding a body that obsesses over condemning Israel while giving dictatorships a free pass.”   

Critics point to the planned election of an Iranian regime official to the U.N.’s top human rights body as proof of its moral crisis.

“I’m not calling for America to pull out. But Washington must hold the U.N. to account...What’s at stake is whether the U.N. remains a moral voice—or slides further into irrelevance as a platform for tyrants,” Neuer said.

The United States remains by far the U.N.’s largest financial backer, contributing billions in taxpayer dollars every year to keep the sprawling international body afloat.

Roughly one-third of the U.N.’s funding comes from Washington: about one-fifth of its regular operating budget, plus large sums for peacekeeping, humanitarian programs, and specialized agencies like the World Health Organization and the U.N. Refugee Agency.

President Biden increased U.S. contributions to the U.N. system, from approximately $11.6 billion in 2020 to about $18.1 billion in 2022.

But in mid-July, Congress included in a rescissions package a measure to claw back $1 billion from the organization.

The U.S. gave about three times as much as the next-largest contributor, Germany ($6.8 billion), and more than six times what Japan contributed ($2.7 billion) that year.

Historically, the U.N. has particularly depended on the U.S. for funding global aid programs.

In 2022, it provided half of all contributions to the World Food Programme, and about a third of all contributions to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the International Organization for Migration.

The U.S. Secret Service said Tuesday that it "dismantled a network of electronic devices located throughout the New York tristate area that were used to conduct multiple telecommunications-related threats directed towards senior U.S. government officials."

The devices were concentrated within 35 miles of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City, it added.

Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report

Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent will meet with Argentinian President Javier Milei alongside President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday.

The meeting comes on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

On Monday, Bessent said said "all options" to aid the Argentinian president, an ally of Trump, were "on the table," suggesting the U.S. may look to providing financial aid just months ahead of Milei's race for re-election.

“Argentina is a systemically important U.S. ally in Latin America, and the U.S. Treasury stands ready to do what is needed within its mandate to support Argentina,” Bessent wrote on X.

These options could include loan provision to Argentina’s central bank, "direct currency purchases" and "purchases of U.S. dollar-denominated Argentine government debt from Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund," he confirmed.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaaat at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday.

Syrian representation at the UNGA this week is the first time any Syrian leader has been at the UN in six decades.

Details of the meeting remain unknown, but come as the Trump administration has signaled a willingness to establish diplomatic relations with Syria and as Damascus continues to lobby the U.S. to drop all sanctions previously imposed during the previous Bashar al-Assad regime.

The meeting followed the pronouncement by the Trump administration over the weekend that it was ending the protected status for all Syrians residing within the U.S. and gave them 60 days to leave the country or face deportation.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) begins its high-level week on Sept 22,  with the debate starting on Sept. 23 at 9 am from its headquarters in New York City.

The debate will be held “without interruption for nine working days,” according to U.N. guidelines, though six days are “usually sufficient to accommodate all speakers.”

Some of the top speeches including President Donald Trump will be on Fox News and Fox News Digital. The debate can be streamed from the U.N.’s official live streaming platform, UN Web TV, or on platforms like YouTube for live and archived coverage.

The General Debate is not open to the public for in person attendance due to the extremely high security precautions that are taken, and attendees must be credentialed diplomats, staff or media personnel.

Each day will offer different themes and events, including a two-state solution for Palestinians, climate action plans, international financial initiatives, the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, AI governance and nuclear disarmament.

When President Trump addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly, his message is expected to be anchored on three pillars: peace, sovereignty, and liberty. His administration has signaled that these themes will define America’s approach to the U.N. and global engagement.

On peace, Trump is expected to call for sharper accountability in peacekeeping missions, according to U.S. priorities outlined by Ambassador Dorothy Shea, Acting U.S. Representative.

The U.S. wants operations to have clear goals, measurable outcomes, and resources aligned with results — not open-ended mandates. This reflects a broader skepticism of global institutions that lack efficiency or accountability.

Sovereignty, long central to Trump’s worldview, will again figure prominently at UNGA 80: he is expected to emphasize the right of nations to chart their own course. His team has cautioned against international rules perceived to stifle innovation or weaken national independence — a continuation of his America First posture.

Finally, liberty will be presented as non-negotiable. Trump is expected to defend freedoms of speech, religion, and political opposition — and to push back against efforts to censor or silence dissent.

New York City takes center stage in global diplomacy this week as world leaders convene for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The annual meeting, regarded as the preeminent diplomatic gathering of the year, brings together presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers from across the globe to debate pressing issues and set the tone for international relations in the year ahead.

Among the most closely watched attendees are U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose actions often draw scrutiny at the Assembly

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also expected to attend, as is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Topics expected to dominate the week include conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, global economic stability, climate change, and the role of emerging technologies in international security. 

Behind the scenes, bilateral meetings are likely to carry as much weight as the speeches delivered from the UN podium, as leaders seek to broker deals, ease tensions, and reinforce alliances.

The world’s attention turns once more to the question of whether the UN can foster cooperation in an era of growing geopolitical divides — including the war in Ukraine and Israel’s offensive in Gaza.