WASHINGTON (AP) — Withdrawing the United States from the IMF and World Bank would be “a step backwards,” a top U.S. Treasury official said Friday, defending the presidential election organizations that create uncertainty about America’s future could cause them.
Ahead of the institutions’ annual meetings this month, Jay Shambaugh, the deputy secretary of international affairs, hinted at a Project 2025 proposal for the US to withdraw from the IMF and World Bank if Donald Trump wins.
The proposal is part of a plan drawn up by the Heritage Foundation as a possible handbook for the next Republican administration, although Trump has said it is not related to his campaign and that he is not bound by its ideas.
“There are those who have suggested that the US withdraw from these institutions; this would be a step backward for our economic security,” Shambaugh said in a speech to the Atlantic Council. Without American leadership, “we would have less influence and we would weaken these institutions. We can’t afford that.’
Often, lenders of last resort, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, use billions in loans and aid to support struggling economies and encourage deficit countries to implement reforms they say will promote stability and growth.
When Shambaugh was asked more directly about the Project 2025 plan in a question-and-answer session, his response was measured, noting that the Hatch Act limits partisan political activities by federal employees. But he said there have been proposals to withdraw from the institutions for many decades, by people who say the US would be better off without them. “I would just say that I think the evidence suggests this is completely inaccurate,” he said.
Within the more than 1,000-page Project 2025, the authors propose that the Treasury Department “withdraw from both the World Bank and the IMF and end its financial contributions to both institutions” because they “simply create expensive intermediaries while diverting U.S. funds intercepted before being distributed to those in need.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic allies have made Project 2025 one of their most consistent tools against Trump. He has denied knowledge of Heritage’s conservative roadmap, even as dozens of his allies and former aides helped craft the presidential transition plan.
Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said: “Only President Trump and the campaign, and NOT any other organization or former personnel, represent the policy for the second term.”
She said the 20 pledges listed on his campaign website are “the only policies endorsed by President Trump for a second term.” The campaign did not respond when asked whether he would encourage the US to withdraw from financial institutions.
The annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank will take place in Washington this month.
