President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order on Tuesday officially withdrawing the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and cutting off future funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides aid to Gaza.
This decision, reported by Politico, follows growing concerns over the UNHRC’s alleged anti-Israel bias and the recent controversy surrounding UNRWA staffers and their potential links to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
The UNHRC, currently chaired by Swiss Ambassador Jürg Lauber, has long been accused of disproportionate criticism of Israel.
The executive order explicitly states that the council has demonstrated persistent bias against Israel by overwhelmingly targeting it in resolutions compared to nations with known human rights violations.
According to the Trump administration, the 2018 withdrawal from the UNHRC during his first term was based on similar concerns. That year, the council passed more resolutions condemning Israel than those condemning Syria, Iran, and North Korea combined.
Now, Trump is reinstating that policy, reinforcing his stance that the United Nations’ human rights body lacks credibility and fails to uphold its mission fairly.
Trump’s executive order will also permanently halt U.S. funding for UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees. This comes after the Biden administration recently paused aid to the organization following reports that some of its employees had direct ties to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
The Trump administration argues that continued U.S. support for UNRWA is unacceptable given its alleged role in facilitating anti-Israel activities and its lack of transparency in how funds are allocated.
Trump’s decision coincides with his upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. The United States and Israel have long been critical of UNRWA and the UNHRC, viewing them as platforms for anti-Israel rhetoric rather than genuine humanitarian and human rights organizations.
The announcement was initially scheduled for Monday, but a White House official confirmed it has been moved to Tuesday to align with Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu. This timing signals renewed U.S. support for Israel and a policy shift toward reducing involvement in UN-affiliated programs deemed hostile to American and Israeli interests.
Beyond its alleged anti-Israel bias, the UNHRC has also faced criticism for shielding authoritarian regimes. Last year, watchdog group U.N. Watch accused Francesca Albanese, the UNHRC’s special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, of violating UN rules and professional ethics.
A legal complaint sent to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk alleged that Albanese accepted honorariums and payments from activist groups, raising concerns about conflicts of interest and political bias.
Additionally, China has leveraged the UNHRC to attack Western countries—including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia—on their own human rights records, despite its own well-documented abuses, including its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.
By pulling the U.S. out of the UNHRC and defunding UNRWA, Trump is reasserting his administration’s skepticism toward international institutions that he believes act against American interests.
His actions reinstate key foreign policy moves from his first term, reinforcing a hardline stance on Israel-Palestine relations and reducing U.S. involvement in UN-backed programs.
As Trump prepares to meet with Netanyahu, this move signals a renewed commitment to Israel while reaffirming his administration’s belief that international bodies should not receive U.S. support if they act counter to American values and interests.
This is a developing story.