The United States has said it will contribute only $2bn in United Nations humanitarian assistance – a small fraction of its traditional funding scope – as President Donald Trump’s administration continues to heavily downsize its role in foreign aid.

The reduced commitment, released on Monday, is a sharp contrast to the assistance of up to $17bn the US has provided as the UN’s leading funder in recent years, about $8 -$ 10bn of which were voluntary contributions, US officials say.

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It comes as critics have levelled sharp criticism against the US’s dramatic aid reductions under Trump, leading to deaths and hunger as millions around the world lose shelter, sustenance and other essential aid.

The $2bn will create a pool of funds that can be directed at specific countries or crises, with 17 countries – including Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Syria and Ukraine – initially targeted.

Afghanistan is not included on the list, nor is Palestine, which officials say will be covered by money included in Trump’s yet-to-be-completed Gaza plan.

Dire outcomes as Western countries pull back aid

Earlier this month, the UN launched a 2026 appeal for $23bn – half the amount it needs – as the extent of Western funding losses became clear.

The UN had previously warned in June it would be forced to enact substantial programme reductions amid “the deepest funding cuts ever” to the international aid sector.

Trump has effectively dismantled the US’s primary platform for foreign aid, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as his administration has called upon UN agencies to “adapt, shrink or die” in response to its approach.

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Other Western countries, including Germany, have also slashed funding.

The fallout across the Middle East, South Asia and Africa has been swift.

In July, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said more than 11 million refugees would lose access to aid. At the time, the agency had received just 23 percent of its $10.6bn budget, and expected an overall budget of only $3.5bn by the end of the year to meet the needs of 122 million people.

Basic services for Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh were at risk of collapsing, UNHCR said, while education for more than 230,000 Rohingya children was expected to be suspended.

The same month, the UN predicted a surge in HIV/AIDS deaths by 2029 due to the funding withdrawals, while the French charity Doctors Without Borders said more than 650 children had died from malnutrition in Nigeria as a direct result of international aid cuts.

‘Control the spigot’

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior US official told The Associated Press news agency that the $2bn is part of a broader plan that will see the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) “control the spigot” of funds.

Trump’s administration wants to see “more consolidated leadership authority” among UN agencies, the official added.

OCHA chief Tom Fletcher has previously criticised international “apathy” to ballooning humanitarian needs and said his agency was “under attack”.

But Fletcher appeared to praise the $2bn deal, telling the AP the US is “demonstrating that it is a humanitarian superpower”.