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US to Withdraw from UNESCO Third Time?

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US to Withdraw from UNESCO Third Time?

(3 Minutes Read)

The United States previously withdrew from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) under the Reagan administration in 1984, citing mismanagement, corruption, and alleging that the multilateral body was used to advance the interests of the Soviet Union. It rejoined in 2003 during George W. Bush’s presidency.

President Trump has decided to withdraw the United States from UNESCO, according to White House deputy spokesperson Anna Kelly. She was talking to the media (the New York Post) on Tuesday. However, UNESCO and the White House did not immediately confirm the US move away from the agency.

This will be the third time that the United States has left UNESCO, which is based in Paris, and the second time during a Trump administration. President Donald Trump had pulled out during his first term, and the United States returned after a five-year absence after the Biden administration applied to rejoin the organization. The decision will take effect at the end of December 2026.

The decision will come as no surprise to UNESCO officials, who had anticipated such a move following the specific review ordered by the Trump administration earlier this year. They also expected that Trump would pull out again since the return of the US in 2023 had been promoted by a political rival, former President Joe Biden.

The Trump administration in 2017 announced that the US would withdraw from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias. That decision took effect a year later. The US and Israel stopped financing UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011.

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The United States previously withdrew from UNESCO under the Reagan administration in 1984, citing mismanagement, corruption, and alleging that the multilateral body was used to advance the interests of the Soviet Union. It rejoined in 2003 during George W. Bush’s presidency.