Shortly after being inaugurated on Monday, Donald Trump signed an executive order initiating a U.S. withdrawl from the World Health Organization, the United Nations global health body that monitors pandemics and supports vaccination efforts around the world.
“World Health ripped us off,” Trump said in the Oval Office as he signed.
Monday’s action starts a one-year countdown clock until the final exit, as WHO members are required to give one year’s notice and fulfill existing funding obligations before leaving the group.
The WHO said it regretted Trump’s decision and pointed to its long history working with the U.S. on crucial issues like ending smallpox and drastically limiting the spread of polio. It also argued the body has worked with the U.S. to pursue “the largest set of reforms in its history, to transform our accountability, cost-effectiveness, and impact in countries.”
“We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe,” a WHO spokesperson told The Independent in a statement.
The organization issued an “emergency appeal” for funding last week.
Trump’s order cited “unfairly onerous” U.S. payments to the WHO and accused the organization of “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China.”
It also pulled the U.S. out of ongoing negotiations for a global pandemic agreement and rescinded the Biden administration’s 2024 U.S. Global Health Security Strategy, a national policy strategy calling for increased bilateral partnerships and financial investments in pandemic response.
Trump’s move could cripple the organization, depriving it of major funding and scientific expertise.
The U.S. helped found the WHO in 1948. Trump’s executive order marks the first time a member nation has opted to leave the WHO.
Health experts warned the decision would harm both global health and U.S. interests.
Tom Bollyky, director of global health for the Council on Foreign Relations, told Stat News the decision is “an enormous mistake.”
“Americans have been made less safe by the president’s action today,” Bollyky said.
Lawrence O. Gostin, director of WHO’s Center on Global Health Law, told NPR Trump’s executive order is a "grave wound to American national interests and our national security.”
“This will really leave our agencies – like the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and NIH [National Institutes of Health] flying blind,” he added.
Once the U.S. leaves the WHO, the CDC won’t have access to global data on pandemics and other health issues collected by the multilateral body.
The U.S. has historically been the largest financial contributor to the WHO, giving $1.284 billion in the 2022 - 2023 period, in a mixture of assessed and voluntary contributions.
The U.S. dues to the WHO for 2025 are roughly $130 million, while China will pay $87.6 million.
Trump attempted to pull the U.S. from the WHO in 2020, but left office before the full one-year notice ended, then saw his steps reversed under Biden.
Trump, as well as his conservative allies, have criticized the WHO for its handling of the Covid pandemic, arguing the organization didn’t push China hard enough for a transparent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
