The Trump administration has recently considered ending its relationship with the UN refugee agency UNHCR, leading diplomats and UN staff to launch efforts aimed at keeping American backing in place, according to sources close to the discussions.

Eight sources including diplomats, aid workers and a congressional contact said Washington, long UNHCR's biggest contributor, has examined pulling away from the body. Several noted that a choice was anticipated last week yet none came, hinting the outreach may have postponed or stopped action.

Reuters allowed the sources to remain unnamed when discussing US ties to the UN.

The US review of leaving UNHCR, founded after World War Two to assist those fleeing conflict, persecution and violence, stems from a dispute over the deputy high commissioner post, five sources said.

They added that the agency told supporters it risked US blacklist status that would cut funding and that Washington might exit its governing Executive Committee.

Any loss of US money would sharply weaken the agency during record displacement from conflicts such as those in Ukraine and Sudan, diplomats and aid officials said.

People have been alerted by UNHCR to call friends in the administration, a source at an aid group involved in the talks told Reuters, noting many had done so. They are at least thinking about it, the source added.

Another diplomat said UNHCR staff had urged supporters in the past week to use every diplomatic route with the United States to seek continued help.

A UN refugee agency spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment. We have no comment on this issue because we have no information on it, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

A State Department spokesperson said there have not been any changes to Washington's engagement with UNHCR. As with many other international organizations, we work with and through UNHCR when doing so is useful to advance US foreign policy interests or save lives.

We will continue to evaluate the United States role in international organizations, the spokesperson added, referring to a February 2025 Executive Order to review US participation and funding.

Since starting his second term last year, US President Donald Trump has reduced funding for UN agencies and left dozens of UN bodies, including the World Health Organization. Trump officials have also pressed other nations to join a global effort to limit asylum protections.

Leadership dilemma

The disagreement focuses on last month's appointment of US career diplomat Tressa Rae Finerty as UNHCR's deputy high commissioner.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih selected Finerty over Simon Hankinson, a US-backed candidate and former foreign service officer who has charged the UNHCR with advancing a mass migration agenda.

If they wanted reform, a return to UNHCR's original mission of helping actual refugees, and a careful inspection of budgets and spending, I was the guy, he told Reuters, calling Finerty a business as usual candidate.

Reuters could not reach Finerty for comment.

A former senior UNHCR official said Salih, a former Iraqi president and refugee, would have faced internal uproar had he backed Hankinson.

Other UN agencies like the International Labor Organization have also faced choices over naming US officials amid doubts about the US commitment to global cooperation.

Andrew Veprek, Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration who has expressed anti-migration views, helped back Hankinson's candidacy, two of the sources said. The US State Department declined to comment on his involvement.

UNHCR's top donor

The US was the top donor to UNHCR in 2025, giving $868 million or about a quarter of the total contributions, according to the agency.

UNHCR already faces a financial crisis after available funding fell roughly 30 percent in 2025 compared with 2024, Reuters reported. The agency has cut thousands of jobs and announced further cuts this year.

Diplomats and aid officials said a full US withdrawal would deepen the crisis and undermine support for the 1951 Refugee Convention, the cornerstone of the post-war refugee protection system.

Rethinking it would be an existential threat for UNHCR, the former UNHCR official said. It could have a massive knock-on effect.