(The Hill) — President Trump is set to withdraw from The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the State Department announced on Tuesday.
In announcing the U.S. is leaving the cultural organization, State spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that “like many UN organizations, UNESCO strayed from its founding mission.”
“Going forward, U.S. participation in international organizations must make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” Bruce added on social platform X.
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The president in February signed an executive order directing the U.S. to review its participation in UNESCO. In that order, he also withdrew the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council and from participating in UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
“I’ve always felt that the U.N. has tremendous potential. It’s not living up to that potential right now. It really hasn’t for a long time,” Trump said at the time.
The U.S., as well as Israel, withdrew from UNESCO in 2019 under the first Trump administration, with Israel criticizing the agency as “erasing” Jewish history within Israel’s borders. In 2023, the nation rejoined the organization under former President Biden.
The White House on Tuesday argued that UNESCO, which is the body that uses culture and history as a bridge-building mechanism between nations, “supports woke” causes.
“NEW: President Trump has decided to withdraw from UNESCO — which supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes. The President will always put America First,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said on X.
“Our membership in all international organizations must align with our national interests,” she added.
