--- description: The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. sparked online furore over a tweet praising cuts made to the organization's peacekeeping budget title: Nikki Haley Praises Cuts to the U.N.'s Peacekeeping Budget image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc813f7cc71795155/6988d3e4fb4eacbbd7892b2e/rts18zhj.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [United Nations](/tag/united-nations/) ## United Nations Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Nikki Haley Praises Cuts to the U.N.'s Peacekeeping Budget, Sparking Online Backlash by [Suyin Haynes](/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 29, 2017 6:27 AM CUT  U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley testifies to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "Advancing U.S. Interests at the United Nations" in Washington, U.S., June 28, 2017. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley testifies to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "Advancing U.S. Interests at the United Nations" in Washington, U.S., June 28, 2017.Joshua Roberts—REUTERS by [Suyin Haynes](/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 29, 2017 6:27 AM CUT U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has sparked online furore over a tweet praising cuts made by the Trump administration to the organization’s peacekeeping budget. Haley tweeted Wednesday: “Just 5 months into our time here, we’ve cut over half a billion $$$ from the UN peacekeeping budget & we’re only getting started.” > [](https://twitter.com/nikkihaley/status/880232833322713088) In a subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Haley said that the U.S. is aiming to cut the country’s contribution to the peacekeeping budget to 25% of total costs from its current level of 28.5%, Bloomberg [reports](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/republicans-press-haley-over-devastating-cuts-to-un-budget "undefined"). “I have seen value in the U.N.,” the ambassador said, “and at the same time the U.N. has fat around the edges.” The Associated Press [reports](https://www.apnews.com/d1d31696d35440e5baddbb3fd248cf93/UN-chief-to-lobby-Congress-Tuesday-against-UN-financing-cuts "undefined") that the U.S. currently pays 22% of the U.N.’s operating budget, and that the [Trump administration’s proposed budget seeks](http://time.com/4720792/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-women-diplomacy/ "undefined") to [cut contributions](http://time.com/4724227/unfpa-funding-trump-mexico-city-policy-abortion/ "undefined") to international organizations including the U.N. by 31%. The tweet garnered a wave of responses from users on social media, with some criticizing Haley’s tone as appearing congratulatory of the budget cuts. > [](https://twitter.com/Green%5FFootballs/status/880240998055424001) > [](https://twitter.com/alplicable/status/880249691761508352) > [](https://twitter.com/AnitaCreamer/status/880250455476977665) > [](https://twitter.com/EricKleefeld/status/880237587427979266) Haley’s comment comes as Republican figures voiced their concerns over the effect that proposed cuts to the U.N. could have on the America’s global standing, Bloomberg reports. “Some of these cuts are massive and just devastating,” Texas Rep. Kay Granger said at Tuesday’s hearing. The ambassador’s tweet also followed a visit by the U.N.’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Washington to lobby against the funding cutbacks, according to the AP. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4838459/nikki-haley-tweet-un-peacekeepers-reaction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4838459/nikki-haley-tweet-un-peacekeepers-reaction/"},"headline":"Nikki Haley Praises Cuts to the U.N.'s Peacekeeping Budget, Sparking Online Backlash","datePublished":"2017-06-29T06:27:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:22:16.928Z","description":"The U.S. Ambassador's tweet garnered a wave of criticism from users on social media","url":"https://time.com/4838459/nikki-haley-tweet-un-peacekeepers-reaction/","keywords":["United Nations","U.N.","Nikki Haley","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc813f7cc71795155/6988d3e4fb4eacbbd7892b2e/rts18zhj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Suyin Haynes","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc813f7cc71795155/6988d3e4fb4eacbbd7892b2e/rts18zhj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley testifies to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington","caption":"U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley testifies to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington","creditText":"Joshua Roberts—REUTERS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/united-nations/","name":"United Nations"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4838459/nikki-haley-tweet-un-peacekeepers-reaction/","name":"Nikki Haley Praises Cuts to the U.N.'s Peacekeeping Budget, Sparking Online Backlash"}}]}] ```