President Donald Trump is seen in the Oval Office on Monday. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
President Donald Trump announced Monday he is withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization, a significant move cutting ties with the United Nation’s public health agency on his first day in office.
Trump has long been critical of the WHO, and his administration formally withdrew from the organization in July 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to spread.
The text of the executive order cites 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,” as reasons for the US withdrawal.
“That’s a big one,” Trump told an aide as he began to sign the executive order, pointing to his 2020 decision and his belief that the US was paying too much money to the organization compared to other countries.
The order also says that the WHO “continues to demand unfairly onerous payments” from the US.
ECN has reached out to the WHO for comment.
