Following the United States’ lead, Hungary could potentially withdraw from two international organizations, namely the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). US President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal from the WHO almost immediately after taking office on 20 January, while last week he announced that Washington would impose sanctions against ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and other officials, including their family members—consisting of financial measures and visa restrictions—if they were found to have assisted in investigations of US citizens or allies.
Both decisions were widely expected, as Trump and his administration, particularly Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F Kennedy Jr, argue that the WHO poses a threat to national sovereignty, operates under Chinese influence, and mishandled the Covid-19 response. Trump had already initiated the process to withdraw from the organization in July 2020, near the end of his first term, a move that was immediately reversed by his successor, Joe Biden, upon taking office.
Signing the executive order for the current withdrawal, Trump called the WHO corrupt and accused it of exploiting the United States, echoing the growing skepticism among millions of Americans regarding the value of such international institutions.
The US is currently the largest donor to the United Nations’ health agency, contributing approximately 18 per cent of the WHO’s funding, which amounted to about $261 million for the 2024–2025 period. Washington’s exit leaves a massive hole in the organization’s budget, meaning other states will have to compensate for the shortfall.
More States to Follow?
Given these circumstances, Washington’s departure could trigger a domino effect, with other countries following Trump’s lead. Argentina has already done so, as President Javier Milei announced last week that Buenos Aires would also withdraw from the WHO, citing ‘deep differences regarding health management, especially during the [Covid-19] pandemic.’ Speaking at a news conference last Wednesday, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni stated: ‘We Argentines are not going to allow an international body to interfere with our sovereignty, and even less with our health.’ He argued that leaving the WHO would grant Argentina greater flexibility in implementing policies tailored to its own interests and managing its funds independently.
‘Washington’s departure could trigger a domino effect, with other countries following Trump’s lead’
Western mainstream media reacted with complete frenzy, speculating that more countries with governments aligned with Trump’s political views might follow suit in the coming months. Their concerns were not entirely unfounded. Just one day after Milei’s announcement, Chief of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s office Gergely Gulyás told reporters: ‘If the most powerful country in the world decides to leave an international organization, then I think the Hungarian government would act carefully when considering whether it should take this step.’
‘We may come to the conclusion that we do not have to do it, we may come to a different decision, of course, but it is certainly worth considering,’ Gulyás added, noting that ‘the world’s strongest democracy is leaving of its own free will.’
A Disgrace to the International Court System
Hungary is also considering reevaluating its relationship with the ICC after Trump imposed financial sanctions and visa restrictions on the Hague-based judicial body. The US president had already signalled potential punitive measures against the organization back in November 2024, when the ICC issued international arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and several Hamas leaders simultaneously. Trump’s executive order condemned the move, stating that it created a ‘shameful moral equivalency’. He also warned that the ICC’s decision ‘sets a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former US personnel’ and poses an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to national security.
Hungary has long been critical of the ICC and its jurisdiction. In March 2023, when the Hague court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Gergely Gulyás stated that Hungary would not arrest him if he entered the country. Additionally, following the ICC’s move against Netanyahu, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán invited the Israeli leader to Hungary, assuring him that the warrant would not be enforced there. The ICC’s decision took several months, with its chief prosecutor openly discussing plans to arrest Netanyahu as soon as May 2023. According to media reports, Orbán has allegedly instructed three of his ministers to explore the possibility of Hungary leaving the ICC at the time.
Following the Trump administration’s recent sanctions, Orbán posted on X: ‘It’s time for Hungary to review what we’re doing in an international organization that is under US sanctions!’ He also referred to the new president’s first weeks in office and their impact on global politics as the ‘Trump Tornado’. After a phone call with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Budapest, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated that Hungary is reconsidering its participation in the ICC, arguing that the body has become overly politicized over the years and has disgraced the international court system with its recent decisions.
While Hungary is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC in 2002, the treaty has never been incorporated into Hungarian law. This omission is due to its inconsistency with the Hungarian Fundamental Law, which stipulates that only the Constitutional Court can rule on criminal cases involving the president of the republic.
The ICC currently has 124 member states, including all European countries except Türkiye, Belarus, the Vatican, and Monaco. However, major global powers such as the United States, Russia, China, Ukraine, and Israel, among others, are not members.
It All Falls Down
Recent weeks have made it increasingly clear that irreversible shifts are underway on the international stage. With the ‘Trump Tornado’ sweeping through the carefully constructed network of international organizations most valued by the globalist elite, the structures of the liberal world order are beginning to crumble. Much like the world order that created them, these institutions have weakened, deviated from their original purposes, or become ineffective in fulfilling their intended roles—some serving merely as tools of exploitation that benefit the globalist elite at the expense of ordinary citizens.
‘Dismantling them signals not only a fresh start but also the need to construct a new world order’
Prime Minister Orbán has long advocated for these structures, institutions, and organizations to be dismantled, and with Trump back in office, it finally seems to be happening. The WHO, ICC, and US Agency for International Development (USAID) are all pillars of the system built by the architects of the liberal world order. Dismantling them signals not only a fresh start but also the need to construct a new world order—one founded on institutions and structures that offer a more balanced representation of both Eastern and Western interests, respect national sovereignty, have valid and well-defined goals and serve as genuine international bodies rather than mere political tools for foreign interference by superpowers.
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