In a move echoing his first term, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States will once again withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The White House cited the agency’s support for what it termed “woke” and “divisive” cultural and social causes, arguing they are “out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for.”

The withdrawal from the Paris-based agency, established post-World War Two to foster peace through international cooperation in education, science, and culture, is slated to take effect at the end of next year.

This decision aligns with the Trump administration’s “America-First” foreign policy, which has consistently expressed skepticism towards multilateral organizations, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and NATO.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly stated that UNESCO “supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for.”

The State Department further accused UNESCO of promoting “a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy.”

A key point of contention highlighted by the administration was UNESCO’s 2011 decision to admit Palestine as a member state, which it labeled “highly problematic, contrary to U.S. policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric.”

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay expressed deep regret over Trump’s decision but acknowledged it was “expected, and UNESCO has prepared for it.” She noted that UNESCO has diversified its funding sources and currently receives only about 8% of its budget from Washington.

French President Emmanuel Macron, posting on X, affirmed France’s “unwavering support” for UNESCO as a “universal protector” of world heritage, asserting that the U.S. withdrawal would not diminish France’s commitment to the organization.

This marks the second time President Trump has pulled the U.S. out of UNESCO, having done so during his first term in 2017.

The Biden administration reversed that decision in 2023. Other international bodies the U.S. withdrew from during Trump’s first term included the World Health Organization, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the U.N. Human Rights Council, though most of these steps were later reinstated.

Trump’s chosen U.N. envoy, Mike Waltz, recently indicated that the United Nations requires reform and expressed confidence in making the “U.N. great again.”

Israel welcomes U.S. stance

Israel welcomed the U.S. decision, with its U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, accusing UNESCO of “consistent misguided anti-Israel bias.” Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked Washington for its “moral support and leadership” on X, adding that “Singling out Israel and politicization by member states must end, in this and all professional UN agencies.”

Conversely, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a prominent Democrat on the Republican-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized Trump’s decision as “short-sighted and a win for China,” noting that China became the largest financial contributor to UNESCO after the U.S.’s previous withdrawal.

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