p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color: #0463c1; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #0463c1} The Donald Trump administration today unveiled a budget blueprint for next year that calls for slashing the US contribution to the United Nations mission in Lebanon by almost half while pursuing similar cuts to international peacekeeping missions around the world.

The State Department budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 seeks a 42% cut over fiscal 2017’s request for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), from $146.1 million to $84.2 million. Funding for UN missions in the Golan Heights, Western Sahara and Cyprus is also to be slashed.

The cuts unveiled today follow months of uncertainty after the State Department in last year’s budget declined to indicate any specific figures for UN operations pending “negotiations on reducing overall UN peacekeeping budget levels or US assessed contributions.” As a result, today’s budget marks the first time the Trump administration has publicly revealed hard-dollar amounts for UN peacekeeping operations in the current fiscal year, which started Oct. 1.

“Because we are looking for greater cost containment at the UN more generally, we do have a lower funding level than the full peacekeeping estimate,” said Douglas Pitkin, director of the State Department’s Bureau of Budget and Planning.