OAN Staff Blake Wolf
11:58 AM – Tuesday, January 21, 2025
President Donald Trump announced his plans to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday following the health agency’s disastrous mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump’s announcement follows his previous attempt to depart from the agency during his first term during the beginning of the pandemic, which was quickly reversed by former President Joe Biden.
Trump signed the executive order to withdraw from the WHO on his first day of office due to the “organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
“World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump stated at the time of the signing.
Trump also previously accused the WHO of supporting China’s efforts to “mislead the world” regarding the origins of the COVID pandemic, while claiming that the WHO is “dominated” by China and corporate power.
The executive order is set to freeze all government funds to the organization while reassigning federal employees previously working with the WHO.
The Trump administration is now in the process of identifying “credible and transparent United States and international partners to assume necessary activities previously undertaken by” the WHO.
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic responded to Trump’s decision, stating “we hope that the United States will reconsider, and we really hope that there will be constructive dialogue for the benefit of everyone, for Americans but also for people around the world.”
The United States was previously the WHO’s biggest financial donor, contributing to around 18% of its overall funding.
Meanwhile, critics call Trump’s withdrawal a “strategic error,” as withdrawing from the WHO could increase China’s global health influence.
“WHO is a pretty essential organization — and with America’s withdrawal, it creates a political vacuum that only one country can fill — and that is China,” stated Dr. Ashish Jha, Biden’s former White House COVID-19 response coordinator.
China’s foreign ministry also responded to Trump’s decision, stating “China will continue to support the WHO in fulfilling its responsibilities, and deepen international public health cooperation.”
The United States gives the WHO between $160 million to $815 million each year.
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