Trump administration releases files related to MLK assassination
Over 240,000 pages related to the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were released despite opposition from some members of the King family.
The United States again is withdrawing from the United Nations’ UNESCO program, which the Trump administration is now labeling “woke” after previously rejecting it because of alleged anti-Israel bias.
The move, which goes into effect at the end of 2026, continues Trump’s efforts to pull the U.S. out of international institutions he has long criticized, something he also did in his first term.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said UNESCO “supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November.”
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement to USA TODAY that Trump’s decision to withdraw is “regrettable” and “contradicts the fundamental principles of multilateralism.”
Azoulay said UNESCO had been anticipating and preparing for a loss of U.S. support and “is not considering any layoffs.” The U.S. currently contributes about 8% of UNESCO’s budget, Azoulay said.
Paris-based UNESCO was founded after World War II to promote peace through international cooperation in education, science, and culture. One of UNESCO’s core missions is the World Heritage program, which protects historic and cultural sites. It also runs a number of educational programs.
Trump also withdrew the U.S. from UNESCO – which stands for U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – during his first administration, citing concerns about its approach to Israel. He also withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization, the U.N. Human Rights Council, a global climate change accord and the Iran nuclear deal.
Joe Biden reversed those decisions after taking office in 2021, returning the U.S. to UNESCO, the WHO and the climate agreement.
With Trump now back in the White House, the U.S. is once again pulling out of these global bodies. He has already decided to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO and halt funding to the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA as part of a review of the country’s participation in UN agencies, due to be concluded in August.
UNESCO has been a focal point of criticism for years.
The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011.
The Reagan administration withdrew from the organization in 1984, but President George W. Bush brought the United States back into the group in 2002.
There are 1,248 UNESCO World Heritage sites in 170 countries, including the pyramids in Egypt, Notre-Dame Cathedral in France and the Statue of Liberty in the U.S.
Contributing: Reuters; Jim Michaels
