White House Drops WTO and ILO From Foreign Aid Cut List After Backlash

The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) confirmed on Thursday that they are no longer part of the White House’s latest round of foreign aid cuts.

Last Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration announced the cancellation of $4.9 billion in congressionally-approved foreign aid, a move that drew sharp criticism from Democrats.

In the memo outlining the cuts, the administration said it was “committed to getting America’s fiscal house in order by cutting government spending that is woke, weaponised, and wasteful.”

Trump, who has already significantly scaled back USAID—the world’s largest humanitarian aid body—since returning to office in January, initially targeted several international organisations for funding reductions.

The list originally included $107 million in cuts to ILO funding and another $29 million to the WTO. However, by Wednesday, the WTO was no longer listed, and by Thursday, the ILO had also been removed.

“We are aware of the removal of the International Labour Organization from a U.S. administration memo released on 29 August,” the ILO told AFP. “We are seeking more information on what this latest development means for the ILO.”

The WTO also confirmed to AFP that it is “not on the funding cut list any more.” No official explanation was provided for why the two Geneva-based organisations were quietly excluded from the document.

Earlier this week, the ILO had revealed that after Trump’s previous executive orders slashing foreign funding, “the majority of ILO projects funded by the USA were given closure orders.” Of the 229 ILO staff involved in U.S.-funded projects, 190 initially faced termination, though more than half were reassigned to other work, according to a spokesperson.

The United States remains the largest contributor to the WTO’s budget, providing 23 million Swiss francs ($28.5 million) this year, or 11.4% of the organisation’s total funding. Washington has also historically covered 22% of the ILO’s regular budget.

However, the U.S. has yet to pay its 2024 and 2025 contributions to either organisation, though such delays are not unusual among member states.