The UN Is Failing America, and Trump's Reforms Under Waltz Are Necessary Correctives
Source: "LIZ PEEK: The UN is failing America — and Trump has a chance to fix it | Fox News." September 22, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
The author argues that the United Nations has become bloated, wasteful, and often hostile to American and Israeli interests while failing at its core job of maintaining global peace. She praises the Trump administration's UN ambassador, Mike Waltz, for cutting costs, eliminating wasteful peacekeeping practices, and pushing reforms that have already saved U.S. taxpayers money.
Conclusion
The United Nations is a bloated, mismanaged, and frequently anti-American institution that has failed its core mission, justifying the Trump administration's aggressive reform efforts under Ambassador Mike Waltz.
Premises
- A majority of Americans (70-73% per Gallup) believe the UN does a poor job maintaining peace, upholding international law, and protecting human rights.
- The UN's budget has quadrupled over 25 years to roughly $70 billion annually, despite poor performance.
- Countries have exploited UN peacekeeping missions as 'cash cows,' bringing military equipment, using it minimally, and having the UN pay for it.
- The UN frequently votes against U.S. and Israeli interests, including 33 consecutive years of anti-embargo votes on Cuba and repeated votes against Israel's self-defense measures.
- The UN spends time and resources on symbolic or ideological issues (like redrawing world maps or 'cognitive justice') rather than substantive peace and security matters.
- The UN has had zero real impact on major conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine War or protecting oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz.
- UN staff (100,000 employees) are overpaid relative to equivalent U.S. civil servants by about 17%, contributing to bloat.
- Waltz's reforms have already produced concrete results: a 15% budget cut ($570 million), elimination of 3,000 positions, and $126 million in savings for U.S. taxpayers.
Assumptions
- UN voting patterns and budget allocations are reliable indicators of institutional failure rather than legitimate multilateral disagreement.
- American public opinion (as measured by Gallup) is an appropriate standard for judging the UN's global effectiveness.
- Cost-cutting and downsizing peacekeeping missions will not undermine the UN's actual peacekeeping capacity.
- U.S. interests and 'genuine' international peace/security concerns are aligned, such that votes against the U.S. represent the UN abandoning its core mission rather than reflecting broader multilateral values.
- Reform under a U.S.-appointed ambassador is achievable and desirable, rather than the U.S. simply exerting outsized influence over a multilateral body.
- The UN's focus on issues like climate change and gender equality is disconnected from peace and security, rather than being viewed by others as contributing to long-term stability.