By executive order, President Donald Trump is pulling back US involvement with three major United Nations sub-organizations that have been shown to have questionable activities: the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC); UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated as foreign terrorist organizations, he said. UNRWA employees were found to be involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The organization vehemently denied the allegations, but in August it fired nine staffers for having been involved in the attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 Israelis.
UNHRC has protected human rights abusers by allowing them to use the organization to shield themselves from scrutiny. Among the members of the council are some of the worst human rights abusers in modern history.
UNESCO has demonstrated failure to reform itself, he said, and has continually demonstrated anti-Israel sentiment over the past decade. Trump ordered a review of the US membership in UNESCO.
“This review shall be led by the Secretary, in coordination with the United States Representative to the United Nations (UN Ambassador), and must be completed within 90 days of the date of this order. The review will include an evaluation of how and if UNESCO supports United States interests. In particular, the review will include an analysis of any anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment within the organization,” the executive order said.
In addition, no executive departments or agencies are allowed to use any funds for grants or payments to UNRWA.
Trump also ordered a complete review by the UN Ambassador of all other international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States and whether such organizations, conventions, or treaties can be reformed.
“Upon the conclusion of that review, the Secretary shall report the findings to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and provide recommendations as to whether the United States should withdraw from any such organizations, conventions, or treaties,” his order said.
“The Secretary shall inform the UN Secretary General and the leadership of UNRWA and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the United States will not fund UNRWA or the UNHRC and that the United States will not satisfy any claims to pay 2025 assessments or prior arrears by these organizations.
The United States helped found the United Nations (UN) after World War II to prevent future global conflicts and promote international peace and security.
But some of the UN’s agencies and bodies have drifted from this mission, Trump said, and instead act contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism.
As in 2018, when the United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during the Trump 1 Administration, “the United States will reevaluate our commitment to these institutions,” he said.
This week the administration also said it’s shutting down USAID offices and putting staff on leave. The US Agency for International Development closure will affect all direct-hire workers with the exception of those who are doing “mission-critical functions, core leadership and specifically designated programs.”
The Trump administration says USAID is a waste of taxpayer dollars. The agency staffers and Democrats in Congress have protested the cuts.
Additionally, the executive branch will stop spending money on Politico subscriptions after paying millions of dollars to the news Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that the administration will stop paying for subscriptions to Politico Pro, after it was discovered that more than $8 million has been given to news organization by certain agencies, including USAID, for subscriptions on the taxpayer’s dime. It is being speculated by various news organizations that the Politico payment was about $25,000, but that has not been confirmed by Must Read Alaska.
“The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now,” Leavitt on Wednesday.
We need DOGE here in Alaska.
Good news keep cutting.
Any progress on United States grocery prices. During the campaign I don’t recall Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal being the focus of his first month in office. In fact we heard quite a bit about ending the Ukraine war on day one. One phone call.
I just love all of this winning!