Trump pulls US out of UN agency over its backing of 'woke' social causes

The Trump administration announced Tuesday that the United States will exit the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

"President Trump has decided to withdraw the United States from UNESCO – which supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November. This president will always put America First and ensure our country’s membership in all international organizations aligns with our national interests," White House Deputy Spokesperson Anna Kelly said on Tuesday.

The move comes as the administration continues to make waves in the international community, and in particular at the U.N. The U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has drawn the ire of the U.N. and other international bodies. Addiitionally, Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed his concerns about the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, which he said would be "especially devastating" to the world's vulnerable populations, according to Reuters.

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement on the exit that "continued involvement with UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States."

"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 statement read. "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."

Trump withdrew the U.S. from UNESCO in October 2017, during his first term, but former President Joe Biden had the country rejoin the agency in 2023. In 2017, the State Department said the U.S. was withdrawing from the agency for very similar reasons, suggesting UNESCO has not sufficiently fixed the issues at the center of the Trump administration's concerns.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.