UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of the organization’s “imminent financial collapse” in a letter to 193 member states, citing unpaid assessed contributions, leaving a record $1.568 billion in arrears, with only 77% of commitments paid in 2025. Additionally, he highlighted a deepening crisis threatening program delivery, with cash potentially running out by July due to a rule requiring the return of unspent funds.
Still not done, Guterres shamelessly begged for full, timely payments or an overhaul of financial rules to avoid collapse, noting formal decisions not to pay major shares. The crisis differs from past ones, particularly in that it has been exacerbated by the U.S. withholding regular dues and exiting agencies under Trump
Beginning his comments on the budding funding crisis, Guterres warned of an “imminent financial collapse.” Additionally, Guterres claimed that the U.N. faces a financial crisis that is “deepening, threatening programme delivery,” and that funding could run out as soon as July.
Likewise, he whined that the “integrity of the entire system” depended on states adhering to their obligation under the U.N. charter to pay their “assessed contributions.” He also alleged that a mere 77 percent of the total owed had been paid in 2025, which is the lowest amount ever, in the organization’s history.
Guterres also stated that there is a rule that the U.N. must return unspent money on particular programs to members if it could not implement a budget, which made the situation into a “double blow” in which it was “expected to give back cash that does not exist”, indicating the money may have already been spent, perhaps improperly.
Concluding his overly dramatic comments with yet another embarrassing remark, Guterres then asserted, whining about his issues, “I cannot overstate the urgency of the situation we now face. We cannot execute budgets with uncollected funds, nor return funds we never received.”
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Additionally, another high-ranking official declared, “Decisions not to honour assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved regular budget have now been formally announced,” without naming specific members, though it is likely that the Trump Administration’s desire to get out of a slew of UN organizations was at least partially to blame.
Reacting to the situation, one viral post about the funding crisis read, “JUST IN: In a bombshell announcement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a dire warning: “the United Nations is on the brink of total collapse” if the United States, which contributes approximately $2.2 billion to the regular budget alone, does not give to the UN.”
Celebrating the news in the comments under the post, one user quipped, “So, right. Gross public disrespect to the president of the country that provides most of your funding wasn’t such a good idea, I guess?” Another pointed out, “So shutting the escalator and mic on Trump turned out to be a bad decision.”
“Ironic. They need money from the country they hate in order to survive. Who would lay out food for rats and snakes?” an irritated conservative said. Likewise, a comment pointed out, “I find it difficult to justify $2.2 billion dollars paid to the UN from US taxpayers. They’re totally none productive and done nothing to resolve a single global crisis in decades. They’re simply huge bureaucratic waste.”
Referencing major snubs to the president, another stated, “Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the cost of a working escalator and a working teleprompter costs? In this case I’d say about $2.2 bil.” Likewise, a user stated, “Good. Let the rest of the world cough up the money if they are so enamored with the UN.”