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. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes statements at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, ahead of his visit to Washington, D.C., where he will meet with President Trump this week.
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.
