In a statement posted on the White House website, President Trump stated that the United States began its withdrawal from the WHO in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China.
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Donald Trump with Angela Merkel and other G7 leaders at the G7 summit in Canada. Photograph: Jesco Denzel/AFP/Getty Images
The newly sworn-in president of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced that the country is withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO). In a statement posted on the White House website, President Trump stated that the United States began its withdrawal from the WHO in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China.
He also cited other global health crises, the WHO’s failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from inappropriate political influence by WHO member states as reasons for the withdrawal. The WHO's two-year budget for 2024 to 2025 is $6.8 billion, with the United States being the largest contributor, providing between 15 and 20 percent of the annual budget.
In 2023 alone, the United States contributed approximately $220 million to the organization. While the World Health Organization levies assessments on various countries, the U.S. has argued that the organization has been demanding unfair levies from them.
The statement from President Trump reads, “… the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO.”
The statement further explained that, instead of relying on the WHO, the U.S. will establish directorates and coordinating mechanisms within the National Security Council apparatus as deemed necessary to safeguard public health and fortify biosecurity.
Additionally, the U.S. announced it would pause the future transfer of any government funds, support, or resources to the global health body. The country will also recall and reassign all its personnel and contractors working in any capacity with the organization.
This withdrawal is concerning, coming at a time when the WHO has just issued a call for funding worth $1.5 billion for its 2025 Health Emergency Appeal (HEA). The vast majority of the WHO's work is humanitarian, raising questions about how the organization will fill the funding gap left by the U.S. Apart from consistently funding public health emergencies, the United States has long been the largest funder of global efforts to combat HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis.
