WASHINGTON — Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has criticized the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw the United States from 66 international organizations, warning that the move could weaken national security, undermine global public health efforts, and hand strategic advantages to China.
Krishnamoorthi, the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said the withdrawals represent a sharp break from decades of U.S. leadership in shaping and guiding international institutions.
“The Trump administration’s decision to abandon long-standing international institutions is a reckless retreat from American leadership that will weaken our security, our economy, and our global influence,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. “Walking away from the table does not protect U.S. sovereignty. It cedes influence and leadership to authoritarian competitors, including the Chinese Communist Party, and leaves our allies and partners questioning America’s reliability.”
He warned that the decision would have tangible consequences for Americans, noting that international cooperation plays a direct role in domestic safety and stability.
“These withdrawals include abandoning counterterrorism coordination that helps prevent extremist attacks, public health partnerships that detect and contain disease threats, and stabilizing efforts that reduce conflict and humanitarian crises before they reach our shores,” Krishnamoorthi said. “If institutions need reform, the answer is leadership and accountability, not abdication. Turning our back on the world does not put America first. It puts America alone.”
Other senior Democrats echoed those concerns. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman said the move reflects a broader ideological shift in U.S. foreign policy, particularly on climate issues. “This is climate denial as foreign policy,” Huffman said, arguing that exiting international climate agreements would leave the United States isolated while rival nations advance clean energy and environmental standards.
Leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition also condemned the withdrawals, saying they would erode U.S. standing globally. “Today, President Donald Trump sent a dangerous signal to the global community that America is withdrawing from its role as a world leader, leaving America weaker, poorer, and more unsafe than ever before,” the group said in a statement responding to the decision to exit 66 organizations, including climate and environmental bodies.
The Trump administration has defended the move, saying the withdrawals are necessary to protect U.S. sovereignty and taxpayer interests. A White House fact sheet said President Donald Trump directed the exit from organizations that “no longer serve American interests,” arguing that many promote “globalist agendas over U.S. priorities” and operate inefficiently.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration determined that the targeted institutions were “redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity.”
International institutions have been a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy since World War II, and the scale of the withdrawals has intensified debate in Washington over America’s global role and long-term strategic interests. (Source: IANS)
