A leading candidate for head of the United Nations had to clarify that he doesn't 'perceive himself as a woman' as the organization fears Donald Trump will demand the new leader be a man.

Those worries come after the Trump administration announced a drastically reduced $2billion pledge to the UN earlier this week, with a warning that they must 'adapt, shrink or die.' 

UN Secretary General António Guterres will vacate the position at the end of 2026, with several candidates set to lobby to take the job, which will be decided by the five permanent members of the security council: the US, UK, France, Russia and China.

The organization had heavily hinted that they wanted a woman to take the job for the first time in its history, noting when they opened the race it had 'regret that no woman has ever held the position of secretary-general.'

They also blatantly stated that 'member states are encouraged to strongly consider nominating women as candidates.' 

'A lot of UN diplomats would still really like to see a woman. [But] there is a sort of feeling that just because the US is being so difficult about everything around the UN, it will insist on picking a man,' UN expert Richard Gowan told The Times. 

Trump's return to office has also nixed candidates who wanted to focus on climate change, which the president has long called a hoax. 

The US State Department demanded that the UN change its ways when they announced their funding on Monday.  

A leading candidate for head of the United Nations had to clarify that he doesn't perceive' himself as a woman as the organization fears Donald Trump (pictured) will demand the new leader be a man

The Trump administration announced a drastically reduced $2billion pledge to the UN earlier this week, with a warning that they must 'adapt, shrink or die'

'The piggy bank is not open to organizations that just want to return to the old system,' Jeremy Lewin, the State Department official in charge of foreign assistance, said at a press conference in Geneva. 

'President Trump has made clear that the system is dead.' 

The three frontrunners - all from Latin America, as the position rotates regions every ten years - will instead focus on peacemaking. 

The lone male candidate, Argentinian diplomat Rafael Grossi, clarified that he was not a woman and believes that the best person for the job should get it.

'I do not perceive myself as one and I'm not changing. My personal take on this is that we are electing the best person to be secretary-general, a man or a woman.'