The United States is planning to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) amid claims of anti-Israel bias and mounting Chinese influence, according to the New York Post, which cited the White House on Tuesday.
The report stated that President Donald Trump, who remains a dominant force in the Republican Party, ordered the State Department in February to conduct a 90-day review of American participation in UNESCO programmes.
This move is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to scale back engagement with certain United Nations institutions that it claims work against American interests, undermine US allies, and, according to officials, help “propagate anti-Semitism.”
Several other media outlets have corroborated the Post’s report.
Speaking to the Post, White House deputy spokesperson Anna Kelly confirmed that Trump’s decision stems from conclusions that UNESCO “supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies” favoured by American voters.
This is not the first time Washington has distanced itself from the Paris-based UN body. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan pulled the US out of UNESCO, citing financial mismanagement and accusations that the organisation’s policies threatened free-market principles by supporting so-called Third World agendas.
The US rejoined in 2002 under President George W. Bush, who sought to build wider international support for the American-led invasion of Iraq.
Trump withdrew the US from UNESCO again during his first term in office, criticising what he described as the body’s entrenched bias against Israel. His decision was reversed by President Joe Biden, who rejoined the agency in 2023 as part of an effort to restore American influence within multilateral institutions.
The Post report noted that the State Department’s recent review flagged UNESCO programmes focusing on gender and racial discrimination as objectionable, aligning with broader criticism from Trump’s allies of what they see as progressive agendas within global bodies. The administration has also maintained longstanding US allegations of bias against Israel within UNESCO.
Kelly added that the White House believes “China has leveraged its influence over UNESCO to advance global standards that are favourable to Beijing’s interests.” Beijing, for its part, previously urged Washington to avoid “confrontation and division” within UNESCO when the US rejoined last year.
Israel has consistently accused UNESCO of anti-Semitism, particularly over the organisation’s recognition of Palestinian cultural heritage sites in the occupied territories, which Israel claims disregards Jewish historical ties. Israel left the agency alongside the US in 2019. UNESCO has denied any claims that it dismisses Jewish heritage in Palestine.
The withdrawal announcement comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the Middle East. Just last month, Trump authorised US military strikes on Iran in support of an Israeli campaign targeting Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure – an operation that drew significant international criticism and was branded by some governments as unlawful aggression.
UNESCO has yet to officially respond to the reports of another possible US withdrawal.
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