The United States is severing ties with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — the cultural engagement arm of the United Nations (U.N.) — citing the agency’s drift from its founding mission and embrace of radical ideologies such as globalist priorities, anti-Israel bias, and the admission of the “State of Palestine” as a Member State as incompatible with American interests.
The Trump administration formally notified UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay of its decision to withdraw from the organization, with the State Department declaring continued involvement “not in the national interest of the United States.” The exit, set to take effect December 31, 2026, underscores Trump’s push to reorient U.S. foreign policy toward a clear-cut America First agenda.
“UNESCO works to advance divisive social and cultural causes and maintains an outsized focus on the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy,” the department said in a press release. “UNESCO’s decision to admit 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.”
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce reinforced the message in a statement on X, writing, “Like many U.N. organizations, UNESCO strayed from its founding mission. Going forward, U.S. participation in international organizations must make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”
The decision comes after months of internal review triggered by Trump’s February executive orders which withdrew the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council, defunded the UNRWA, and launched a top-to-bottom audit of U.S. ties to the U.N. system.
It also aligns with President Trump’s nomination of former Green Beret Col. Michael Waltz as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Waltz, who testified before the Senate earlier this month, pledged to combat anti-Israel bias, counter Chinese influence, and slash wasteful U.N. spending. He described the U.N.’s current trajectory as a “drift from its core mission,” warning that U.S. taxpayers were funding bloated bureaucracies hostile to American values.
Waltz specifically pointed to the U.N.’s double standard on Israel, noting that between 2015 and 2023, the General Assembly passed 154 resolutions against Israel compared to 71 for the rest of the world combined. “We must challenge pervasive antisemitism,” Waltz remarked, backing Trump’s executive order to block funds from bodies hostile to the Jewish state.
Read the full article here