On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the agency responsible for Palestinian refugees.
The order also calls for a review of U.S. participation in UNESCO, citing what the administration described as a “deep anti-American bias” within these organizations.
“So I’ve always felt that the U.S. has tremendous potential,” Trump told reporters. “It’s not living up to that potential right now, it really isn’t. Hasn’t for a long time. There are great hopes for it, but it’s not being well run, to be honest, and they’re not doing their job. A lot of these conflicts that we’re working on should be settled, or at least we should have some help in settling them. We never seem to get help. That should be the primary purpose of the UN, the United Nations.”
BREAKING: President Trump just signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the UN Human Rights Council and UNRWA pic.twitter.com/UDQkNn1RmI
— Resist Times (@resistupdates) February 4, 2025
Trump further emphasized that while the U.S. would remain engaged with the UN, the organization needed significant reform. “It’s got great potential, and based on that potential, we’ll continue to go along with it. But they gotta get their act together,” he added.
The decision follows Israel’s move in October to ban UNRWA from operating within its borders after it was revealed that some agency employees had ties to Hamas, with some allegedly participating in the October 7 attacks.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.