NEW YORK (AN) — Donald Trump, the once and future U.S. president, leads a nativist political movement deeply hostile to the modern era of U.S. leadership and support for international cooperation and development.

In his first term, Trump led an unprecedented attack on the international liberal order built around the world of international organizations that the United States helped establish and lead in the wake of World War II.

Ernesto Zedillo, a former president of Mexico and member of the London-based The Elders, condemned Trump's "ongoing assault on international covenants and institutions" in June 2020.

"The ambition and activism of the Trump administration to undermine or even destroy international institutions seem to be unlimited and, sadly, manifestly unchecked thanks to other governments’ pusillanimous inaction," Zedillo said.

Trump withdrew from the Paris climate treaty, suspended funding for the World Health Organization during the pandemic, and brought the World Trade Organization’s ability to rule on trade appeals cases to a halt.

Although he will likely withdraw again from the 2015 Paris Agreement, that would take a year before going into effect under the treaty's rules.

More uncertainty in Trump's second administration

The United Nations and other organizations anticipate Trump's return to the White House in January 2025 will bring a second round of reduced U.S. financial support and engagement that are a mainstay for many of them.

Several other U.S. presidents, mostly Republicans, were largely dismissive of the uses of globalism and multilateralism in the post-World War II era.

Ronald Reagan withdrew from UNESCO in 1984. George W. Bush withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol and Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2001. Bush's U.S.-led war on Iraq in 2003 proceeded without U.N. Security Council authorization. The U.S. still refuses to ratify important global treaties on human rights, justice and accountability, and environmental protections.

Most U.S. presidents, however, upheld America's legacy of strong but conditional support for the U.N. and other international organizations. Not so with Trump, whose "America First" approach translates into another four years of turbulent times for international organizations.

The U.S. pays 22% of the U.N.'s regular budget, which is now in Trump's crosshairs. His choice for U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, called for a “complete reassessment” of U.S. funding for the U.N. and an end to support for UNRWA, which aids Palestinian refugees.

Stefanik, once a supporter of Ukraine joining NATO, now embraces Trump's agenda for ending the war by forcing the country to capitulate to at least some of Russia's demands.

She will take a seat on the U.N. Security Council, which remains stalemated toward the wars in Europe and the Middle East among its five veto-wielding members, China, France, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S.

Trump's choice of Tulsi Gabbard as U.S. intelligence chief is rattling the national security establishment for her lack of experience and accusations of her amplifying Russian propaganda.

"Trump’s transactional approach sits ill with global institutions," said MIT professor and economist Daron Acemoglu.

"But worse, he will likely actively try to undermine several of those, including the United Nations and perhaps even the World Bank," Acemoglu said. "What will happen to NATO is also uncertain."

Highlights of Trump's policy assault on global cooperation, round one

Here is a timeline of Trump's actions involving international organizations and treaties from Jan. 2017 to Jan. 2021.

2017

Trans-Pacific Partnership
Jan. 23 - Trump directs the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to withdraw from the 12-country, Asia-focused trade agreement that the U.S. championed under the Obama administration.

NAFTA
May 18 - U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notifies Congress of the White House’s intent to “modernize” the North American Free Trade Agreement by renegotiating with Canada and Mexico.

NATO
May 20-27 - In his first trip abroad as president, Trump tells members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization they must “finally contribute their fair share” to the military alliance. He does not explicitly state his support for NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.

G-7
May 20-27 - At a Group of Seven meeting, Trump has the U.S. join in a joint declaration on fighting protectionism but withholds his support from another one reaffirming the Paris climate treaty.

2015 Paris Agreement
June 1 - Trump formally announces the U.S. departure from the climate treaty. Formal notice is later given in Nov. 2019, effective a year later. Under President Biden, the U.S. rejoins in Jan. 2021.

U.N. General Assembly
Sept. 19 - In his first address to the 193-nation world body, Trump threatens to “totally destroy” North Korea if the U.S. has to defend itself or its allies and showed no concern for global challenges like climate change, instead vowing to "always put America first. Just like you, as the leaders of your countries, will always and should always put your countries first."

UNESCO
Oct. 12 - Trump announces the U.S. will withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at the end of 2018. Biden reverses the move in July 2023.

2018

Trade war with China
April 4–Dec. 1 - Trump imposes a 25% tariff on US$34 billion of imports from China, including cars, hard disks and aircraft parts, sparking a trade war. China retaliates by imposing a 25% tariff on 545 goods from the U.S. worth US$34 billion, including agricultural products, cars and aquatic products. In the following months, U.S. tariffs grow to US$250 billion worth of Chinese products; China's tariffs grow to US$110 billion worth of U.S. goods.

Iran nuclear deal
May 8 - Trump announces he is pulling the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. With the U.S. reversal, Iran's planned economic opening to the West depends on its European, Russian and Chinese partners. Biden lets the decision stand.

U.N. Human Rights Council
June 19 - U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announces the U.S. will exit the U.N.'s top human rights body. Biden oversees a return to the council in 2022, but lets U.S. membership lapse the next year.

Human rights violations
June 5 - The U.N. human rights office says the Trump administration's new 'zero tolerance' policy for Central American families trying to enter the United States violates children's rights under international law by breaking up families from Mexico.

G-7
June 8-9 - Trump alienates the Group of Seven's leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who Trump describes as "dishonest and weak" at a meeting hosted by Trudeau in Québec.

Outer Space Treaty
June 18 - Trump announces the creation of a U.S. Space Force to prepare for conflict and war and develop space war technologies, possibly flouting international law under the 1967 treaty that underpins space law and prohibits militarization in outer space.

NATO
July 11-12 - At a two-day NATO summit, Trump hammers away at traditional U.S. allies to pressure them into spending more on defense, and suggests America might not defend other members of the military alliance.

Trump-Putin summit
July 16 - Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meet in Helsinki for a two-hour meeting behind closed doors, accompanied only by two interpreters. At a press conference, Trump casts doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

World Trade Organization
July 17 - A panel of independent experts warn the WTO may become irrelevant if global tensions from Trump's trade wars cause "backsliding" among major economies towards trade protectionism. A month later, Trump threatens to pull the U.S. out of the WTO.

U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement
September 30 - The U.S., Canada, and Mexico reach agreement on changes to NAFTA, and rename it. The trade deal has new labor provisions, stronger protections for U.S. intellectual property, and rules of origin and minimum wage hikes that benefit U.S. automakers.

International Criminal Court
Sept. 10 - Trump's national security adviser John Bolton harshly condemns the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, saying the U.S. will not cooperate with, help, or join the ICC, which "is already dead to us."

U.N. General Assembly
Sept. 25 - In his second address, Trump reduces the U.N. and everything it represents to "an unelected, unaccountable global bureaucracy" and promotes a nationalist, anti-globalist agenda: "We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism.”

Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia
October - Trump announces plans to exit from this Cold War-era agreement, which banned all U.S. and Soviet land-based ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. The U.S. and Russia let the INF lapse in 2019, ending a key plank of nuclear arms control and prompting fears of a new global arms race.

Universal Postal Union
Oct.20 - The Trump administration gives notice it intends to withdraw from the 144-year-old organization that underpins the global postal system - prompting the UPU to immediately begin taking steps to fix the shipping policies that Trump says undercut American businesses.

Jamal Khashoggi
October-December - Human rights organizations condemn the assassination of Saudi journalist, U.S. citizen and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Trump expresses support for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence over the next year that he orchestrated the murder and growing calls for a U.N.-led independent investigation.

2019

International Criminal Court
March-April - The top American diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, says the United States will revoke or deny visas to any court staff that try to bring charges in alleged war crimes and other abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or anywhere else. Weeks later, the Trump administration makes good on its threat by revoking a U.S. travel visa for the war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor.

World Bank
April 9 - David Malpass, a former senior economic adviser to Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign, begins a five year term at the helm of a global lending institution that is supposed to work to end extreme poverty and build shared prosperity — a mission that appears to conflict with beliefs expressed both by him and Trump. The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, reveals that her father offered her the job of heading the World Bank, but she turned it down to stay on as a senior presidential adviser.

G-20
June 28-29 - At a two-day summit, the Group of 20 warns of risks to global growth, but does not condemn protectionism. On the sidelines, Trump generates headlines meeting with Putin and China's President Xi Jinping. In a final statement, leaders of the G-20 major economies cite growing trade and geopolitical tensions as a threat to global growth.

Bank for International Settlements
June 30 - The global bank for central banks warns in its annual report that governments must reduce trade tensions and rely on more than stimulus from central banks to avoid threats to the global economy. Despite some apparent progress between the U.S. and China towards possibly resolving their trade differences, BIS says "monetary policy can no longer be the main engine of economic growth, and other policy drivers need to kick in to ensure the global economy achieves sustainable momentum."

U.N. human rights office
July 8 - The U.N.'s top human rights official says she is "appalled" at conditions forced on adults and children held in detention after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, emphasizes that children should never be held in immigration detention or separated from their families - and urges Trump to find non-custodial alternatives for migrant and refugee children and adults.

G-7
August 24-26 - Leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies wrap up a summit with little progress in resolving tensions over Trump's trade policies, a troubled world economy, the climate crisis, and the fraying Iranian nuclear deal.

United Nations
Sept. 12 - Kelly Craft starts in her post as the new U.S. ambassador to the U.N. The longtime donor to political campaigns, whose billionaire husband is CEO of the second largest coal producer in the eastern U.S., faces questions about her commitment to fighting climate change.

World Trade Organization
Dec. 11 - Trump's refusal to approve any new appointments to WTO's Appellate Body strips the WTO's highest court of the quorum it needs to effectively hear cases. With too few members to decide cases, the Appellate Body must leave pending appeals in limbo, increasing the chances of trade disputes escalating into trade wars.

2020

World Health Organization
July 6 - The Trump administration gives one-year notice it will withdraw the U.S. from the U.N. health agency as of July 2021. Before that could happen, Biden wins office and reverses the withdrawal in Jan. 2021.

COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility
Sept. 1 - The Trump administration says it will not join the WHO-led COVAX Facility, a global effort to develop, manufacture, and equitably distribute coronavirus vaccines.

Treaty on Open Skies
Nov. 22 - Trump formally withdraws the U.S. from a 2002 treaty that permits mutual unarmed surveillance flights over 34 nations, including Russia. Weeks later, Russia announces it will also withdraw from the treaty.

Highlights of Trump's policy assault on global cooperation, round two

Here is a timeline of Trump's actions involving international organizations and treaties from Nov. 2024 onwards.

2024

U.S. climate law
November 9 - Former U.S. vice president Al Gore predicts Trump, after he takes office in Jan. 2025, probably won't be able to undo a landmark climate law that stands to bring hundreds of billions of dollars of investment, make renewable energy less expensive worldwide, and put the U.S. on track to meeting its Paris climate treaty obligations.

United Nations
November 11 - Trump names a close ally, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, elevating a harsh critic of the world body and staunch defender of Israel to a key diplomatic post.