UN General Assembly · 2025
When the United States votes alone at the UN
In 2025 the United States was the only country to vote no on 43 resolutions at the UN General Assembly, more than any country in any year since records began in 1946. The previous record was 22, set by the United States itself in both 1986 and 1987. The 43 resolutions ranged from World Horse Day to protection of the global climate and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. All of them passed, 40 of them with 150 to 182 yes votes. As of October 2026, the United States had also been the only no vote on several 2026 resolutions, including a road safety declaration on July 21 (162 to 1) and "Correct the map" on September 4 (164 to 1). No full count for 2026 has been published.
Why did the United States vote alone so often in 2025?
The administration gave several reasons across multiple votes. On March 4, 2025, before a vote on the International Day of Peaceful Coexistence (not one of the 43: Argentina and Israel also voted no), Edward Heartney, a Minister Counselor at the US Mission, told the General Assembly that "the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals advance a programme of soft global governance that is inconsistent with United States sovereignty," according to the UN verbatim record. He said the United States "rejects and denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals." On gender language, Heartney objected to the phrase "gender digital divides" in the Education for democracy text, calling it "a concept with no agreed-upon meaning." A US written explanation of vote in the First Committee said in 2025: "It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female." In November 2025, Lauren Lovelace, an ECOSOC Counselor at the US Mission, announced that the United States would disengage from most resolutions of the Second Committee, saying the UN "can no longer afford to waste its resources where there is little or no impact."
Argentina, which voted no alongside the United States on 84 of the 174 US no votes in 2025, said on March 4, 2025 that "every State, within its own sovereignty, has the right to participate" in the 2030 Agenda or not, according to the UN meeting summary. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in March 2025 that the 2030 Agenda was "the path to bridging divides, restoring trust and building solidarity." Denmark, speaking for the European Union on December 15, 2025, said that "almost all previously consensual resolutions have been called to a vote," according to the UN meeting summary.
These votes came alongside broader US withdrawals. The United States left the Paris Agreement (effective January 27, 2026) and the World Health Organization (effective January 22, 2026), and an executive order of February 4, 2025 withdrew it from the Human Rights Council. On January 7, 2026 the administration ordered withdrawal from 66 international organizations, 31 of them UN entities.
Which resolutions did it vote alone against?
The 43 resolutions fell into several broad categories. International days and decades included World Horse Day, the International Day of Hope, and the United Nations Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation (2027-2036). Development and the 2030 Agenda accounted for the largest group: disaster risk reduction, food security and nutrition, South-South cooperation, development cooperation with middle-income countries, financing for development, and the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, among others. Climate and environment resolutions included protection of global climate, the Convention on Biological Diversity, desertification, and sustainable mountain development. Disarmament texts included the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the Arms Trade Treaty, and the relationship between disarmament and development. Several resolutions covered cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations such as the African Union and ASEAN. Forty of the 43 passed with 150 to 182 yes votes; the other three had 111 to 139.
- Mar 2025International Day for Judicial Well-being160 yes, 1 no, 3 abstained
- Mar 2025Education for democracy151 yes, 1 no, 8 abstained
- Mar 2025International Day of Hope161 yes, 1 no, 4 abstained
- Mar 2025Implementation of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025)158 yes, 1 no
- Apr 2025United Nations Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation in line with Sustainable Forest Management (2027-2036)155 yes, 1 no
- Apr 2025Global health and foreign policy139 yes, 1 no, 3 abstained
- May 2025Cooperation between the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations158 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained
- Jun 2025World Horse Day169 yes, 1 no
- Jun 2025Tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife157 yes, 1 no
- Jun 2025Our Ocean, Our Future162 yes, 1 no
- Jun 2025Promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance in countering hate speech111 yes, 1 no, 44 abstained
- Jul 2025Interaction between the United Nations, national parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union153 yes, 1 no
- Aug 2025Cooperation between the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States114 yes, 1 no, 19 abstained
- Sep 2025Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union169 yes, 1 no
- Sep 2025Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie167 yes, 1 no, 3 abstained
- Dec 2025Relationship between disarmament and development178 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained
- Dec 2025Observance of environmental norms in the drafting and implementation of agreements on disarmament and arms control178 yes, 1 no, 2 abstained
- Dec 2025The Arms Trade Treaty153 yes, 1 no, 22 abstained
- Dec 2025Regional confidence-building measures171 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Report of the Disarmament Commission172 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained
- Dec 2025Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty176 yes, 1 no, 3 abstained
- Dec 2025Assistance in mine action166 yes, 1 no, 2 abstained
- Dec 2025International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space171 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel153 yes, 1 no, 6 abstained
- Dec 2025International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development162 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development176 yes, 1 no, 5 abstained
- Dec 2025Follow-up to and implementation of the outcomes of the International Conferences on Financing for Development180 yes, 1 no, 2 abstained
- Dec 2025The pivotal role of reliable and stable energy connectivity in driving sustainable development179 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained
- Dec 2025Follow-up to and implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States182 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Disaster risk reduction181 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Protection of global climate for present and future generations of humankind181 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa181 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its contribution to sustainable development180 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained
- Dec 2025Sustainable mountain development178 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Strengthening cooperation for integrated coastal zone management for achieving sustainable development174 yes, 1 no, 3 abstained
- Dec 2025Multidimensional Vulnerability Index177 yes, 1 no, 2 abstained
- Dec 2025Development cooperation with middle-income countries181 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Follow-up to the 3rd United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries181 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Operational activities for development of the United Nations System180 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained
- Dec 2025South-South cooperation182 yes, 1 no
- Dec 2025Agriculture development, food security and nutrition180 yes, 1 no, 2 abstained
- Dec 2025Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa179 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained
- Dec 2025Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities173 yes, 1 no, 3 abstained
Who votes no with the United States?
Across all 174 resolutions where the United States voted no in 2025, Israel voted no on 98 of them and Argentina on 84. Hungary voted no on 33, the United Kingdom on 30, Paraguay on 29, and France and Micronesia on 27 each. On the 43 resolutions where the United States was the only no vote, these countries did not join it but some abstained. Israel abstained on 10 of the 43 and did not vote on 30. Argentina abstained on 7, voted yes on 10 and did not vote on 26. The United Kingdom voted yes on 40 of the 43.
Israel98
Argentina84
Hungary33
United Kingdom30
Paraguay29
Micronesia27
France27
Czechia25
Has the United States voted alone this often before?
The closest parallel is the 1980s under President Reagan. The United States cast 22 lone no votes in 1986 and 22 in 1987, the previous record. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick (1981 to 1985) told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on March 2, 1984 that countries must learn that "their votes, their attitudes and their actions inside the U.N. system inevitably must have consequences for their relationship outside the U.N. system."
Under President George W. Bush, from 2005 to 2008, the United States again voted alone often, casting 12 to 16 lone no votes a year in the dataset. Those were mostly on disarmament resolutions, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the Arms Trade Treaty. Under President Obama (2009 to 2016) the United States cast 2 lone no votes in total. During President Trump's first term it cast 2 to 5 a year (2017 to 2020), then 3 in 2021 and none in 2022, 2023 or 2024 under President Biden. No other country has ever had more than 8 lone no votes in a single year; Israel reached that figure in 1982. From 1946 to 2025 the United States cast 341 lone no votes and Israel 152.