Live updates: Trump news on Epstein case and US withdrawing from UNESCO

President Donald Trump is pulling the United States out of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a White House official confirmed to CNN.

The United States was a founding member of UNESCO in 1945 but withdrew in 1984, citing concerns over financial mismanagement and a perceived bias against US interests.

Nearly two decades later, in 2003, the US rejoined the organization during President George W. Bush’s administration, with Bush stating that UNESCO had implemented important reforms.

In a statement, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce added the US’ continued participation in UNESCO is not in its “national interest.” The withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2026.

More on the international organization: UNESCO “promotes cooperation in education, science, culture and communication to foster peace worldwide,” its website states.

The US also withdrew from UNESCO during the first Trump administration. Trump ordered a review of US participation in early February, including “an analysis of any anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment within the organization.”

Bruce alleged that “UNESCO works to advance divisive social and cultural causes and maintains an outsized focus on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy.”

“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,” she said.