UN begins process to select Guterres replacement as Secretary-General

The Trump administration is being called on to go on the offensive and ensure that the next United Nations chief aligns with US and Western values ​​and does not bow to what critics say is an increasingly anti-American institution.

The term of office of UN Secretary-General António Guterres will end on December 31, 2026. Portugal’s former socialist prime minister has been beset by major wars and crises that have led to accusations of bias against him, especially when it comes to Israel.

Experts agree the Trump administration should keep a close eye on who can best serve U.S. interests

Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute for Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Voices for Human Rights, told Fox News Digital: “As long as the United States continues to make the mistake of being the largest depositor of money in the United Nations and keeps the UN headquarters (some call the fifth column) a stone’s throw away from our financial capital, it should care deeply about who runs the organization.”

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“The United Nations has been the front line of the Cold War since its founding, and today it is increasingly the front line of hostility against the United States,” said Jonathan Wachtel, former director of communications and senior policy advisor to U.S. ambassadors Nikki Haley and Kelly Craft at the United States Mission to the United Nations.

“As the Security Council prepares for straw polls in mid-2026, we face the stark reality that Russia and China could veto any candidate who reflects our values, even as they seek to undermine US foreign policy and erode Western principles. The next secretary-general must be a leader with the backbone and conviction to defend the ideals on which the UN was founded and on which the US has long stood – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for as many people as possible,” he said.

With just over a year left in the election process, member states have begun to nominate candidates who best suit their national interests.

Brett Schaefer, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital that few of the candidates mentioned so far would be deemed acceptable by the United States. “Most of the announced and rumored candidates are either from within the UN or on the left side of the political spectrum,” Schaefer said. “It’s hard to say at this stage that the United States would be willing to support any of these.”

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FILE – In this October 13, 2016 file photo, Portuguese Antonio Guterres, appointed United Nations Secretary-General, speaks during his duty at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) (Seth Wenig/File/Associated Press)

“After campaigns, a series of withdrawals, and elimination of candidates, Security Council members will present a preferred candidate to the UN General Assembly for formal adoption late next year,” Hugh Dugan, former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organizational Affairs at the National Security Council, told Fox News Digital as the selection effort continues.

Dugan said tradition indicates that the next secretary general should come from Latin America. He also emphasized that there is a desire to appoint a female candidate after the call for a female Secretary General for 15 years.

“If they’re really going to take over an organization like this that’s suffering and more or less irrelevant and difficult to manage, they’re going to have to emerge as managers,” Dugan said.

Amid the “three-ring circus” of the election, he said six candidates have been officially named, with another eight candidates being considered as possible candidates for the role.

Announced Candidates:

Among the announced candidates, the most acceptable candidate for the United States appears to be Argentinian Rafael Grossi, the current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Grossi, an Argentinian diplomat, works to prevent a nuclear disaster in Russia’s war against Ukraine while dealing with Iran’s ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. Schaefer says Grossi is “probably the most acceptable of the candidates listed so far” given the “great courage” he has shown in his role at the IAEA.

Others include: Former Bolivian Vice President David Choquehuanca. A member of the Movement for Socialism. Choquehuanca expressed his disdain for Western thought after his election as Bolivia’s foreign minister.

Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. UN Watch said Bachelet frequently condemned Israel and the United States during her tenure but “turned a blind eye to widespread abuses by China, Turkey, North Korea, Cuba, Eritrea and others.”

According to Schaefer, this is an “extraordinary possibility” [Bachelet] He would receive support from the United States due to his political leanings and “conspicuous lack of courage in the performance of his role as high commissioner for human rights.”

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at Vienna International Airport upon his return from inspecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Schwechat, Austria, on September 2, 2022. (Heinz-Peter Bader/Getty Images)

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Costa Rica’s former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan, who chaired the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), had recommended the regulation as a way to “address the deepening asymmetries” of international finance.

Schaefer said Grynspan would not be “an ideal candidate from a U.S. perspective” because his 30-year U.N. career makes him a “perfect insider” who would likely be reluctant to “shake up the system.”

The field is picked by two outside candidates; Colombe Cahen-Salvador, a left-wing political activist and co-founder of the Atlas Movement, and Bruno Donat, a joint Mauritius-US citizen and UN Mine Action Service official.

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Possible Candidates

Although they have not been officially named by a member state, Dugan listed several other officials who are likely to be nominated in the coming months. Many of them come from the left of the political aisle and are unlikely to have the support of the Trump administration.

Jacinda Ardern, a former prime minister of New Zealand, has resigned from her post but is seen as a “global icon of the left”. Schaefer noted that Ardern’s previous resignation was not a “ringing endorsement” of her ability to take on the demanding role of secretary-general.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is a possible candidate for UN Secretary-General. (Nick Perry/AP Photo)

Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s former top diplomat, has 14 years of experience as head of the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. He is currently the secretary of environment and natural resources.

Others include: Ecuador’s former defense and foreign minister María Fernanda Espinosa, Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed, UN deputy secretary-general Kristalina Georgieva, Bulgaria’s managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019, and Germany’s Achim Steiner, former head of the UN Development Programme.

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Bayefsky said: “A long list of anti-American secretaries-general, including the deeply hostile Antonio Guterres, has done tremendous damage to America’s international relations, fueled anti-Semitism on a global scale, and severely diminished global peace and security. We remain in the background in this election at our own peril.”