U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz says President Donald Trump has charged him with a clear mandate: drag the UN back to its original purpose — promoting peace — and end the mission creep that has turned the organization into a bloated bureaucracy distracted by ideological agendas.
In an interview with Daily Wire editor-in-chief Brent Scher, Waltz explained how his work at the UN embodies Trump’s America First approach to global diplomacy. His message to the international body was blunt: “You’re supposed to be stopping wars, ending wars, preventing wars,” Waltz said. “That was the establishment of the UN… to prevent any other future world wars. And yet here we are 80 years later, and we have more conflicts around the globe than ever.”
While many conservatives argue the United States should abandon the UN altogether, Waltz believes the institution can be salvaged — but only if serious reforms are implemented. He said the UN must once again function as a burden-sharing mechanism, compelling other nations to “pull their weight” rather than relying on the U.S. to shoulder global security challenges alone. He pointed to efforts in Haiti, where the United States has pushed other nations like Kenya to contribute to anti-gang operations instead of expecting Washington to lead everything.
“We’ve just got to get it back focused on those peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions that they did so well in the past,” Waltz said, arguing the UN has “strayed” badly in recent decades.
A major pillar of Waltz’s agenda is defunding UN agencies that work against American interests. “We walked away from WHO,” Waltz noted, referencing the World Health Organization. “UNRWA… completely infiltrated by Hamas. We walked out of it and defunded that too.” He also criticized the UN Human Rights Council for coddling rogue regimes like North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran. The solution, Waltz said, is simple: “focus on the parts that align with an America First agenda and defund the rest of it — the nonsense.”
Waltz said the UN is drowning in redundant and politically charged climate agencies. “At most you need one, if not none, but you definitely don’t need seven,” he said. The goal is to redirect U.S. funding toward essential areas such as global shipping, civil aviation, and telecommunications — sectors where maintaining American standards is critical. “When I land flying internationally, I want everybody speaking English,” Waltz said. “We want them aligned with our standards, not China’s or Russia’s.”
Despite the dysfunction, Waltz said the UN remains the best forum for global diplomacy — as long as it is led by the United States. “We should have one place in the world where everybody can talk,” he said. “I want that American-led and in the United States, not in places like Beijing or Moscow.”
Under Trump’s leadership, Waltz said the UN has already agreed to cut more than 2,600 bureaucratic positions, slash its budget by 15 percent, and reduce peacekeeping deployments by 25 percent worldwide — all steps toward reining in the institution.
Waltz also emphasized the Trump administration’s focus on combatting the global persecution of Christians, noting that roughly 80 percent of such cases occur in Nigeria. He praised rapper Nicki Minaj for using her massive platform to help raise awareness at the UN last month.
Representing the U.S. at the UN, Waltz admitted, can be more challenging than working in the Middle East. After being interrupted and accused of lying by the Cuban ambassador, Waltz said, “There are times where I think the tribes in the Middle East… are easier than here.” But he remains committed: “This is the world stage… and we’ve got to clean house.”
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