United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a presidential memorandum directing the withdrawal of the US from 66 international organisations that the White House said “no longer serve American interests”.

Under the order, US agencies and departments have been instructed to cease participation in and funding for 35 non-United Nations organisations and 31 UN-linked bodies that “operate contrary to US national interests, security, economic prosperity or sovereignty”.

The India-led International Solar Alliance is among the non-UN organisations from which the US is withdrawing, ANI reported. It also includes environmental bodies such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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The UN organisations from which the US has withdrawn include the UN Population Fund, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the International Law Commission, the International Trade Centre and the Peacebuilding Commission.

In a statement, the White House said that the withdrawals would “end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over US priorities”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the country decided to leave these organisations as they were “anti-American, useless, or wasteful”, adding that a review of other global entities is ongoing. “These withdrawals keep a key promise President Trump made to Americans - we will stop subsidizing globalist bureaucrats who act against our interests,” Rubio said.

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The Trump administration has previously suspended support for multilateral bodies such as the World Health Organization, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency – the UN Human Rights Council, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Also read: Trump’s withdrawal from WHO puts Americans at risk, weakens global health policy