On 4 February, Trump ordered a sweeping 180-day review of all international organisations to which the US belongs and supports, as well as “all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party”. The directive aligns with the goals of Project 2025, which dismisses the IMF and World Bank as “expensive middlemen” that “intercept” US funding before they reach projects abroad. If Trump follows this playbook, a US exit would be imminent.

But Project 2025’s authors have clearly misunderstood how these institutions are funded and run. By abandoning the IMF and the World Ban...