2 minute read
The United States will leave the United Nations' culture and education agency UNESCO as US President Donald Trump continues to pull his country out of international institutions he has long criticized, Reuters reported citing two European diplomats.
The New York Post also reported on the U.S. withdrawal, citing a White House official.
Trump took similar steps during his first term, quitting the World Health Organization, the U.N. Human Rights Council, a global climate change accord and the Iran nuclear deal, Reuters reported.
Joe Biden reversed those decisions after taking office in 2021, returning the U.S. to UNESCO, the WHO and the climate agreement.
With Trump now back in the White House, the U.S. is once again pulling out of these global bodies. He has already decided to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO and halt funding to the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA as part of a review of the U.S.' participation in UN agencies, 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-U.S. bias, returning almost 20 years later in 2003 under President George W. Bush, who then said the agency had undertaken needed reforms.