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Trump withdraws the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council

By Deepa Shivaram
Published February 3, 2025 at 6:37 PM EST
President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, including one to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations Relief and Workers Agency (UNRWA) and the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Shawn Thew
/
Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, including one to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations Relief and Workers Agency (UNRWA) and the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Updated February 04, 2025 at 18:33 PM ET

President Trump has signed an executive order pulling the U.S. out of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

"I've always felt that the U.N. has tremendous potential. It's not living up to that potential right now," he said Tuesday afternoon at a White House signing ceremony.

During his first term as president, Trump also cut ties with the UNHRC, an organization that U.S. leaders from both parties have long said has a bias against Israel.

The order also cut future funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides aid to Palestinians. The Biden administration paused funding to UNRWA while the war between Israel and Hamas was ongoing, after accusations from Israel that some staffers from the agency had ties to Hamas. But an independent review found that there was no evidence to back that up. UNRWA is the main agency providing relief to Palestinians in Gaza.

The new executive order comes the same day that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House, marking Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader since being sworn in last month.

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Deepa Shivaram
Deepa Shivaram is a multi-platform political reporter on NPR's Washington Desk.
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