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In early February 2025, President Trump, a few weeks into his second term, signed an Executive Order titled “Withdrawing the United States From International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties That Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States.” This directive instructed federal agencies to cease funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), among other actions.
According to reports from RedState at the time, the president’s decision was part of a broader initiative led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This effort aimed to identify and cut wasteful and potentially corrupt spending on foreign non-governmental organizations that were being funded under the guise of USAID assistance. There had been ongoing concerns about USAID being misused as a financial resource by Democrats and global elites. Additionally, since October 7, there has been scrutiny over UNRWA’s alleged involvement in violent incidents against Israel on that day.
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli citizen who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, recounted to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that during her captivity, she was held in UNRWA facilities. She highlighted the lack of adequate medical care she received, despite sustaining severe injuries, including the loss of two fingers and a leg injury during her abduction. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later uncovered evidence indicating that “over 450 terrorists affiliated with organizations in Gaza, primarily Hamas, were also employed by UNRWA.”
Trump’s next foreign policy move, as reported by Politico, is sure to tick off all the right people, namely those whose pockets get deeper every time the largesse of the American taxpayer goes abroad. Not only does the president intend to withdraw the United States from the U.N. Human Rights Council, he will also pull all future funding for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), Hamas’s biggest cheerleader and, by many accounts, collaborator.
The president’s action was part of the DOGE-led effort to uncover and eliminate wasteful and often corrupt spending on foreign NGOs under the guise of USAID assistance. USAID had essentially become a slush fund for Democrats and the global elite, and many questions had been raised since October 7 about UNRWA’s involvement in the atrocities committed on Israel that day.
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli citizen who was take hostage by Hamas on October 7, told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after her release that some of her time in captivity was spent in UNRWA facilities, where she was denied proper medical care despite losing two fingers and injuring her leg after her brutal kidnapping. The IDF found evidence that “over 450 terrorists belonging to terrorist organizations in Gaza, mainly Hamas, are also employed by UNRWA.”