The post Here’s Why The Trump Administration Withdrew From UNESCO—Again. appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Topline The State Department said Tuesday that the U.S. will withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the end of next year over its advancement of “divisive social and cultural causes”—the second time President Donald Trump has pulled out and a decision that reflects the U.S.’s broader turbulence with the U.N. agency. The UNESCO flag flies at its headquarters Tuesday, July 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla) Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Key Facts In a press release, the State Department said the U.S. informed UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay of its decision to withdraw from the agency, which will take effect in December 2026. The department said UNESCO is working “to advance divisive social and cultural causes” that are at odds with Trump’s “America First foreign policy,” citing the admission of Palestine as a full member in 2011 as “highly problematic, contrary to U.S. policy” and contributing “to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric.” Trump pulled out of UNESCO in 2018 for similar reasons after alleging the group had an “anti-Israel bias”—a decision former President Joe Biden reversed in 2023. Key Background In 2011, the Obama administration cut U.S. funding to UNESCO after it admitted Palestine as a full member in accordance with legislation that bans U.S. contributions to any U.N. agency that grants Palestine membership. At the time, UNESCO relied on the U.S. for what was roughly $70 million per year—22% of the agency’s budget. The U.S. lost its voting rights at the organization in 2013 after not funding the agency for two years. Israel announced it would pull out of the organization around the same time as Trump in 2017. At the time of the Trump administration’s withdrawal, the U.S. owed UNESCO up to $550 million. The Biden administration rejoined…

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Filed under: News - @ July 22, 2025 11:25 pm