Trump: US plans UNESCO exit
The United States has hinted at a plan to exit the United Nations’ Culture and Education Agency, UNESCO.
This is according to the New York Post, citing a White House official on Monday.
US President Donald Trump had maintained a critical stance on his country’s involvement in international institutions.
Reuters reports that Trump took similar steps during his first term in 2017, quitting the World Health Organisation, the UN Human Rights Council, a global climate change accord, and the Iran nuclear deal.
However, his Democrat successor, Joe Biden, reversed those decisions after taking office in 2021, returning the US to UNESCO, the WHO, and the climate agreement.
With Trump now back in the White House, the US is once again pulling out of these global bodies.
Recall that Trump had already decided to withdraw the US from the WHO and halt funding to the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA as part of a review of the country’s participation in UN agencies.
The review is due to be concluded in August, according to Reuters.
The United States initially joined UNESCO at its founding in 1945 but withdrew for the first time in 1984 in protest against alleged financial mismanagement and perceived anti-US bias, returning almost 20 years later in 2003 under President George Bush, who then said the agency had undertaken needed reforms.
Trump’s administration has pushed for his America First foreign policy agenda backed by tariff imposition.
