The Trump administration has announced that it will once again withdraw from the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, dealing a blow to an agency known for preserving cultural heritage through its UNESCO World Heritage Sites program, which recognizes significant landmarks for protection, ranging from the Taj Mahal to Egypt’s pyramids of Giza and the Grand Canyon National Park.
The agency also empowers education and science across the globe.
The decision to pull U.S. funding and participation from UNESCO, which won’t go into effect until December 2026, comes two years after the Biden administration rejoined following a controversial, five-year absence that began during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The White House cited similar concerns as it did in 2018, saying it believes U.S. involvement is not in its national interest and accusing the agency of promoting anti-Israel speech.
It is the Trump administration’s latest move to pull support for U.N. agencies under a larger campaign to reshape U.S. diplomacy. Under the “America First” approach, the administration has pulled out of the U.N. World Health Organization and the top U.N. human rights body, while reassessing its funding for others. This has left the U.N., which is in the process of its own massive overhaul, reevaluating core programs and initiatives and what the international body would look like without support from the U.S. – its largest donor.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement that the withdrawal was linked to UNESCO’s perceived agenda to “advance divisive social and cultural causes,” adding that UNESCO’s decision in 2011 “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.”
UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay said she “deeply” regrets the U.S. decision but said it was expected and that the agency “has prepared for it.” She also denied accusations of anti-Israel bias, saying it contradicts “the reality of UNESCO’s efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism.”
Azoulay added that “the reasons put forward by the United States of America are the same as 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.”
Azoulay pledged that UNESCO will carry out its missions despite “inevitably reduced resources.” The agency said that it is not considering any staff layoffs at this stage.
France, where UNESCO is based, stated in a press release that it regrets the U.S.’s decision to withdraw from the agency, which was founded in 1946 “to prevent conflicts through education, culture and tolerance.”
“France supports UNESCO, which backs several of its priorities at international level, particularly access to education for all, the protection of endangered heritage, the protection of our oceans, the responsible development of artificial intelligence and the fight against anti-Semitism and hate speech,” the French foreign ministry said.
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