Despite the United Nations’ public efforts to reduce its budget due to declining contributions and overlapping mandates, a U.N. diplomatic source told Digital that these efforts are merely a tactic to maintain the organization’s structure until the 2026 midterm elections.

According to the source, the proposed “zero-growth budget” for 2026 is already set, and discussions about streamlining are only meant to deceive President Trump. The U.N. reportedly anticipates that this budget will sustain them until Democrats regain control of the House, thus ending Trump’s ability to influence their finances.

The source attributed this strategy to the U.N. Foundation, a claim the group denied.

“We have never suggested linking U.N. budget discussions to the U.S. mid-term elections,” a U.N. Foundation spokesperson stated to Digital.

The spokesperson added, “The U.N. Foundation is independent from the U.N. and not involved in its budget process, which is determined by the U.N. General Assembly. We also believe there’s room for efficiencies and innovations to improve the U.N.’s essential work.”

Digital reviewed internal documents showing U.N. entities directing cost-cutting measures. The source alleges that some documents reveal the insincere nature of these efforts.

A UN80 memo from U.N. Resident Coordinators in Africa, dated April 2025, highlights the failures of past reforms. It states that these reforms “did not fully address incentives for collaboration,” leading U.N. entities to “too often prioritize their corporate obligations over system-wide coherence.” The memo also notes that coordination “is too easily viewed as additional work rather than a core responsibility,” and “funding competition further compounds these issues.”

The memo outlines two reorganization options but indicates that “implementing such ambitious structural reforms, especially Option 1, will require a medium-term phased approach over a 5-10 year horizon,” and Option 2 “is not likely to be viable if no structural changes are made to [headquarters] level entities.”

The U.N. source claims the memo “shows…the itself.”

Another memo from the Secretary-General’s office, dated April 25, instructs Secretariat entities to conduct a “functional review for cost reductions and efficiencies.” This includes identifying functions that could be relocated, specifying “at a minimum the functions, organizational units, post numbers, and grade levels proposed for relocation.”

These figures were to be submitted to the Office of the Controller by May 16, acknowledging the “tight deadline” due to the U.N.’s “very limited timeframe” to prepare and submit revised estimates through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) for consideration within the 2026 proposed program budget.

Digital’s source questioned the sincerity of this endeavor, stating, “This Secretary-General has to deal with bodies that, even though they are called the United Nations, they do not depend on him. The document does not represent any value legally, because none of their boards have committed nor listened or reviewed” the order.

Digital asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric if Guterres expected organizations with independent boards to enforce these changes. Dujarric responded, “We do not take such a pessimistic view. The Secretary-General and the heads of the U.N. Funds and Programmes will act in areas under their authority while, of course, keeping the governing bodies informed.”

Before the response deadline, Guterres admitted on May 12 that the 2026 budget proposal “was already given to ACABQ some time ago and it will be impossible to change it at the present moment.” While he said he would present revised proposals in September for budget approvals, he explained that “changes that require more detailed analysis will be presented in the proposal” for the 2027 budget.

Digital’s source interprets this admission as proof that “this whole attempt is a lie to appease the Americans so they don’t go harsh enough and cut anything right now.”

On May 13, Guterres addressed U.N. staff, emphasizing the need for “bold, transformative thinking” and extensive reforms to address the U.N.’s liquidity crisis. He expressed gratitude for employees’ “extraordinary dedication, expertise and creativity” but warned “that ‘leaks’ and rumours may create unnecessary anxiety,” adding that “it will be inevitable that we cannot leave all posts untouched.”

After over three decades at the U.N., the source claims to have “seen the U.N. attempt to change itself at least five times,” only to see it “get a larger footprint.” They added that other insiders “are fed up that the organization is not changing.”

“You have…a itself,” the source explained. “And you should also trust them to reorganize themselves?” they asked.

The Economist reported in May that the U.N. might run out of funds to pay suppliers and employees by the General Assembly in September due to unpaid fees, leaving the organization’s future uncertain.