Trump pulls US out of ‘woke' and ‘divisive' UNESCO for second time
The move is in line with the Trump administration's broader "America-first" foreign policy, which includes a deep scepticism of multilateral groups, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, and the NATO alliance.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said UNESCO "supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for."
The US state department accused UNESCO of supporting "a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy".
It said its decision to admit the Palestinians as a member state was "highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric."
UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said she deeply regretted Trump's decision, but it was "expected, and UNESCO has prepared for it."
Posting on X, French president Emmanuel Macron professed "unwavering support" for the "universal protector" of world heritage and said the US move would not weaken France's commitment to UNESCO.
UNESCO officials said the US withdrawal would have some limited impact on US--financed programmes.
Azoulay said UNESCO had diversified funding sources, receiving only about 8pc of its budget from Washington.
UNESCO was one of several international bodies Trump withdrew from during his first term, along with the World Health Organisation, the Paris Agreement climate change accord, and the UN Human Rights Council.
During his second term, he has largely reinstated those steps. Trump's pick to be his UN envoy, Mike Waltz, said this month the United Nations needs reform while expressing confidence that "we can make the UN great again."
Israel praises US moral support and leadership
Israel welcomed the US decision with its UN ambassador, Danny Danon, accusing UNESCO of "consistent misguided anti-Israel bias'.
In a post on X, Israel's foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar, thanked Washington for its "moral support and leadership" and said that "Singling out Israel and politicization by member states must end, in this and all professional UN agencies."
US senator Jeanne Shaheen, the senior Democrat on the Republican-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trump's decision "short-sighted and a win for China," which she said became the largest financial contributor to UNESCO after Trump last withdrew from the agency.
UNESCO officials said all relevant agency statements had been agreed with both Israel and the Palestinians over the past eight years.
Azoulay said the US had given the same reasons for its pullout as it had seven years ago "even though the situation has changed profoundly, political tensions have receded, and UNESCO today constitutes a rare forum for consensus on concrete and action-oriented multilateralism'.
"These claims also contradict the reality of UNESCO's efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism," she added.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is best known for designating World Heritage Sites, including the US Grand Canyon and Egypt's pyramids.
It lists 26 sites in the United States, including the Statue of Liberty, on its World Heritage List which highlights 1,248 global locations of "outstanding universal value." Washington has had a troubled relationship with UNESCO over the years.
It was a founding member in 1945 but first withdrew in 1984 to protest alleged financial mismanagement and perceived anti-US bias during the Cold War.
It returned in 2003 under US president George W. Bush, who said UNESCO had undertaken needed reforms, but in 2011 the Obama administration announced it was stopping funding for the agency following its vote to grant the Palestinians full membership.
Trump's first administration announced in 2017 it was quitting after accusing UNESCO of anti-Israeli bias, with Washington owing $542 million in dues, before former US president Biden reversed the decision in 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
EU-US trade deal brings 'temporary stability' but 'unbalanced'
A trade deal clinched by the United States and the European Union will provide temporary stability but is "unbalanced," a French minister has said. The deal reached yesterday in talks between US President Donald Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland "will provide temporary stability... but it is unbalanced," Benjamin Haddad, the French minister for Europe, wrote on X. The agreement will see EU exports taxed at 15% in a bid to resolve a transatlantic tariff stand-off that threatened to explode into a full-blown trade war. US President Donald Trump emerged from a high-stakes meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf resort in Scotland, describing the deal as the "biggest ever". The moment Trump and von der Leyen announce EU-US trade deal The deal, which the leaders struck in around an hour, came as the clock ticked down on a 1 August deadline to avoid an across-the-board US levy of 30% on European goods. "We've reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody. This is probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity," said Mr Trump. Mr Trump said a baseline tariff of 15% would apply across the board, including for Europe's crucial automobile sector, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. As part of the deal, Mr Trump said the 27-nation EU bloc had agreed to purchase "$750 billion worth of energy" from the United States, as well as make $600 billion in additional investments. Ms Von der Leyen said the "significant" purchases of US liquefied natural gas, oil and nuclear fuels would come over three years, as part of the bloc's bid to diversify away from Russian sources. Negotiating on behalf of the EU's 27 countries, Ms von der Leyen had been pushing hard to salvage a trading relationship worth an annual $1.9 trillion in goods and services. "It's a good deal," the EU chief told reporters. "It will bring stability. It will bring predictability. That's very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic," she said. She added that bilateral tariff exemptions had been agreed on a number of "strategic products", notably aircraft, certain chemicals, some agricultural products and critical raw materials. Ms Von der Leyen said the EU still hoped to secure further so-called "zero-for-zero" agreements, notably for alcohol, which she hoped to be "sorted out" in coming days. Mr Trump also said EU countries - which recently pledged to ramp up their defence spending within NATO - would be purchasing "hundreds of billions of dollars worth of military equipment". 'Best we could get' The EU has been hit by multiple waves of tariffs since Mr Trump reclaimed the White House. It is currently subject to a 25% levy on cars, 50% on steel and aluminium, and an across-the-board tariff of 10 percent, which Washington threatened to hike to 30 percent in a no-deal scenario. The bloc had been pushing hard for tariff carve-outs for critical industries from aircraft to spirits, and its auto industry, crucial for France and Germany, is already reeling from the levies imposed so far. "15% is not to be underestimated, but it is the best we could get," acknowledged Ms von der Leyen. Any deal will need to be approved by EU member states - whose ambassadors, on a visit to Greenland, were updated by the commission yesterday morning. They were set to meet again after the deal struck in Scotland. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the agreement will "help protect many jobs in Ireland". The Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the deal for bringing "a measure of much-needed certainty", but that it "regrets" the baseline tariff. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rapidly hailed the deal, saying it avoided "needless escalation in transatlantic trade relations". But German exporters were less enthusiastic. The powerful BDI federation of industrial groups said the accord would have "considerable negative repercussions" while the country's VCI chemical trade association said the accord left rates "too high". The EU had pushed for a compromise on steel that could allow a certain quota into the United States before tariffs would apply. Mr Trump appeared to rule that out, saying steel was "staying the way it is", but the EU chief insisted later that "tariffs will be cut and a quota system will be put in place" for steel. 'The big one' While 15% is much higher than pre-existing US tariffs on European goods, which average around 4.8%, it mirrors the status quo, with companies currently facing an additional flat rate of 10%. Had the talks failed, EU states had greenlit counter tariffs on $109 billion (€93 billion) of US goods, including aircraft and cars to take effect in stages from 7 August. Mr Trump has embarked on a campaign to reshape US trade with the world and has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariffs if they do not reach a pact with Washington by 1 August.
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Delayed UN meeting to discuss two-state solution
Dozens of ministers will gather at the United Nations for a delayed conference to work toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, but the US and Israel are boycotting the event. The 193-member UN General Assembly decided in September last year that such a conference would be held in 2025. Hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, the conference was postponed in June after Israel attacked Iran. The conference aims to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told newspaper La Tribune Dimanche in an interview published yesterday that he will also use the conference this week to push other countries to join France in recognising a Palestinian state. France intends to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron said last week. "We will launch an appeal in New York so that other countries join us to initiate an even more ambitious and demanding dynamic that will culminate on September 21," Mr Barrot said, adding that he expected Arab countries by then to condemn Palestinian militants Hamas and call for their disarmament. The conference comes as a 22-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza still rages. The war was triggered on 7 October 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's military campaign has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The US will not attend the conference at the United Nations, said a State Department spokesperson, describing it as "a gift to Hamas, which continues to reject ceasefire proposals accepted by Israel that would lead to the release of hostages and bring calm in Gaza." The State Department spokesperson added that Washington voted against the General Assembly last year calling for the conference and would "not support actions that jeopardise the prospect for a long-term, peaceful resolution to the conflict." Israel is also not taking part in the conference, "which doesn't first urgently address the issue of condemning Hamas and returning all of the remaining hostages," said Jonathan Harounoff, international spokesperson at Israel's UN mission. The UN has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognised borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war with neighbouring Arab states. The UN General Assembly in May last year overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council "reconsider the matter favourably." The resolution garnered 143 votes in favor and nine against. The General Assembly vote was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member - a move that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state - after the US vetoed it in the UN Security Council several weeks earlier.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Trump, Starmer to meet in Scotland, with trade and Gaza on agenda
US president Donald Trump will host British prime minister Keir Starmer at his golf resort in western Scotland on Monday for talks expected to range from their recent trade deal to the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza , the two governments said. Mr Trump, boosted by the announcement of a trade agreement with the European Union late on Sunday, said he expected Mr Starmer would also be pleased. 'The prime minister of the UK, while he's not involved in this, will be very happy because you know, there's a certain unity that's been brought there, too,' Mr Trump said. 'He's going to be very happy to see what we did.' Mr Starmer had hoped to negotiate a drop in US steel and aluminum tariffs as part of the discussions, but Mr Trump on Sunday ruled out any changes in the 50 per cent duties for the EU and has said the trade deal with Britain has been 'concluded.' The two men are expected to travel from Mr Trump's golf resort in Turnberry, on Scotland's west coast, to a second sprawling estate owned by Mr Trump in the east, near Aberdeen. Mr Starmer was heading to Scotland from Switzerland, where England won the Women's European Championship final on Sunday. Casting a shadow over their visit has been the deepening crisis in the war-torn Gaza enclave, where images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the world. Mr Starmer has recalled his ministers from their summer recess for a cabinet meeting, a UK government source said on Sunday, most likely to discuss the situation in Gaza as pressure grows at home and abroad to recognise a Palestinian state. The British leader on Friday said his country would recognise a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France in taking swifter action. Mr Trump on Friday dismissed French president Emmanuel Macron's plan to recognise a Palestinian state, an intention that also drew strong condemnation from Israel, after similar moves from Spain, Norway and Ireland last year. Mr Trump said he understood Mr Starmer wanted to discuss Israel, adding that while the US would increase its aid to Gaza, it wanted others to join the effort. Ukraine will also be on the agenda. Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave, with aid groups warning of mass hunger among Gaza's 2.2 million people. The war began on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas -led fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's offensive has killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials. It has reduced much of the enclave to ruins and displaced nearly the entire population. - Reuters (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025
