U.S. Eyes ‘Back to Basics’ Overhaul of G20 as It Prepares to Take Helm from South Africa

As the United States prepares to assume the presidency of the G20 next year, sources close to the Trump administration say the country is planning a sweeping shakeup of the global forum, stripping it down to its financial roots and eliminating a slew of working groups in a controversial “back to basics” shift.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already skipped two G20 finance events this year, including a key meeting in Durban, South Africa, this week, signaling the administration’s broader skepticism of multilateral institutions. The G20, founded in 1999 with U.S. support, is now seen by Washington as bloated and in need of realignment with American priorities.

Streamlining the G20 Agenda

According to three U.S. sources familiar with internal planning, the Trump administration intends to drastically streamline the G20’s operations when it takes over from South Africa in late 2025. The presidency coincides with the 250th anniversary of the United States, an event the White House may use as symbolic backdrop for reshaping global economic dialogue.

Rather than the current wide-ranging format, Washington will focus the G20 around just two tracks: the leaders’ summit and the financial track. That means scrapping ministerial-level meetings and working groups on topics such as health, climate, gender, and energy, areas the administration views as outside the G20’s core financial mandate.

This strategy aligns with Bessent’s earlier calls for the IMF and World Bank to return to their original missions, sidelining initiatives related to climate finance and social development.

International Reactions and Warnings

Some experts say a refocus could find support among other G20 members who feel the forum has overextended itself. “There seems to be consensus at the G20 that it has expanded a lot,” said a source involved in ongoing process reviews under the South African presidency. “That is in line with what the U.S. is looking at.”

Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council, believes this minimalist approach may resonate globally. “It’s a reset, a second-round recalibration that focuses on what the G20 was initially designed to do: coordinate global financial stability.”

Still, critics warn that cutting development and sustainability conversations from the G20 could weaken its global relevance. Eric LeCompte of Jubilee USA Network emphasized that debt, economic growth, and financial reform cannot be disentangled from development. “Our hope is that development continues to be linked,” he said.

A Vacuum in Global Leadership?

The Trump administration’s pullback this year has already been noticed and, in some circles, welcomed, as Brazil’s 2024 G20 presidency failed to get consensus on a global minimum tax for the ultra-wealthy. But former U.S. Treasury official Ben Harris cautioned that retreating from multilateral leadership may backfire. “It obviously creates a vacuum, and that vacuum will be filled—likely by China,” he warned.

Indeed, the U.S. has already stepped back from co-chairing the sustainable finance working group with China, and it remains unclear whether President Trump will attend the 2025 leaders’ summit in South Africa.

Despite internal skepticism, the G20 still serves as a critical diplomatic platform. Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations noted that it offers opportunities for high-level sideline meetings that don’t carry the weight or formality of official state visits, opening the door to interactions even with adversaries, should global tensions ease.

With a pivot to economic fundamentals, Washington appears poised to reshape the G20 in its image, leaner, more finance-focused, and less politically entangled. But whether this approach revitalizes or marginalizes the G20 will depend on how other world powers respond and whether the world sees a stripped-down G20 as a solution or a symptom of fading multilateralism.

{Source: DD News}

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