Trump Expected to Withdraw US from UN Human Rights Council, Extend UNRWA Funding Ban
President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to sever US engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council and prolong the funding ban on the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Al Jazeera reports, citing a White House official who spoke to several US news outlets.
News organizations including Politico and NPR reported on Monday that Trump is expected to formalize the withdrawal from the two UN bodies with an executive order on Tuesday. The timing coincides with a scheduled White House visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a vocal critic of the UN and UNRWA.
This action would follow Trump’s previous withdrawals from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris climate agreement. The Biden administration later rejoined the Paris agreement.
A previous Trump administration had already withdrawn the US from the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, with then-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley citing the body’s alleged “chronic bias” against Israel as the reason. The Human Rights Council, comprised of 47 elected member states serving four-year terms, conducts periodic reviews of human rights records of UN member states, including the US, which is scheduled for its next review in August.
During the US’s last review in 2020, numerous countries offered recommendations for improving the country’s human rights record, focusing on issues such as racism and the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The council also appoints independent UN special rapporteurs. Several UN special rapporteurs have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, including Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory.
The US has also leveraged its position to criticize the human rights record of other countries when it was an elected member of the council, most recently from 2022-2024.
Trump and Netanyahu are expected to discuss the next phase of a proposed ceasefire deal when they meet at the White House.
Speaking after Netanyahu’s arrival in the US on Monday, Trump said there were “no guarantees” that the ceasefire deal would be successful.
