United States Withdraws from UN Human Rights Council Under Trump Administration

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to officially withdraw the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council and continue the suspension of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). This decision aligns with his administration's stance against international bodies that he claims exhibit an "anti-American bias."

The announcement was made during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House. Trump stated, "I am pleased to announce that this afternoon, the U.S. withdrew from the anti-Semitic UN Human Rights Council and ended all funding to the UNRWA, which funneled money to Hamas and was disloyal to humanity."

The White House explained that the Human Rights Council has allowed countries such as Iran, China, and Cuba to exploit the organization to shield themselves despite their severe human rights violations. Will Scharf, an advisor to Trump, noted that the executive order also aims to "review U.S. involvement in UNESCO," the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which has also demonstrated an anti-American bias, he reiterated.

UNRWA Funding Halted

The executive order solidifies the halt of funding to the UNRWA, an agency that supports over five million Palestinian refugees. In November, the Israeli Parliament passed laws banning all agency activities in the country and severely restricting its operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. The ban took effect last week, heightening uncertainty regarding the organization's future.

Allegations that UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 massacre have fueled opposition to the agency in Israel. However, the United Nations dismissed nine employees and conducted an investigation, concluding no concrete evidence supported the most serious accusations.

Despite this, in January 2023, the U.S. Congress suspended funding to the UNRWA until at least March of that year. With Trump's signature, the possibility of resuming U.S. financial support to the agency is definitively closed, even though the U.S. was once its largest donor, contributing between $300 and $400 million annually.

The executive order also directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare a report on international organizations, conventions, or treaties that promote "anti-American or radical sentiments." Among the entities mentioned is UNESCO, from which Trump had already withdrawn the U.S. during his first term, citing alleged "anti-Israel bias."

U.S. and the UN Human Rights Council: A Shifting Relationship

The relationship between the U.S. and the UN Human Rights Council has been variable. Trump previously pulled the U.S. out of the council in 2018, arguing it harbored "human rights violators" and maintained a bias against Israel. However, when Joe Biden took office in 2021, he re-engaged the U.S. with the council, securing Washington's election as a member for the 2022-2024 term.

With this new move, Trump continues his strategy of distancing the U.S. from international organizations, a policy he applied by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO) during his first term. Now, in a second term in the White House, the Republican reinforces his approach to "putting order" in global affairs according to his vision, further distancing the U.S. from multilateral forums.