The Trump administration announced that the nation will leave the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
According to State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, UNESCO “works to advance divisive social and cultural causes and maintains an outsized focus on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy.” Bruce said the entity’s decision to recognize the “State of Palestine” as a Member State is “highly problematic, contrary to U.S. policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization.”
The U.S. will officially withdraw on December 31, 2026.
Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon honored the United States’ move, saying the “decision to withdraw from UNESCO is a worthy response to the consistent anti-Israel bias of an organization that has lost its way.” He stated the U.S. “continues to demonstrate moral clarity in the international arena and makes it clear that it is not ready to support bodies that promote hatred, historical rewriting and political disputes instead of universal values. No democratic country should grant legitimacy or funding to organizations that serve anti-Israel campaigns instead of their original goals.”
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, said she regrets President Trump’s decision to “once again withdraw the United States of America from UNESCO.” Trump previously withdrew the country from the organization in 2017.
“This decision contradicts the fundamental principles of multilateralism, and may affect first and foremost our many partners in the United States of America— communities seeking site inscription on the World Heritage List, Creative City status, and University Chairs,” Azoulay said. She added that the “United States of America is and will always be welcome.”
