“Because they have failed to carry out the reforms that are requested and urgently needed, we will today sever our relations with the World Health Organization and divert these funds to other world-wide and viable, urgent global public health needs,” Trump said.
The president said that “the world needs an answer from China about the virus. We must have transparency.”
Earlier in his remarks, Trump said that China had not properly reported information about coronaviruses to the World Health Organization and said China had pressured WHO to “mislead the world.”
“Chinese officials are ignoring their reporting obligations to the World Health Organization and pressuring the World Health Organization to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered by Chinese authorities,” Trump said. “Countless lives have been taken and deep economic difficulties have been caused throughout the world.”
The president previously announced the temporary suspension of funding for WHO and sent a letter to an earlier agency in May saying that the US would permanently withdraw funds if WHO did not “commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days.”
In the letter, Trump included a false description of when information about the virus was published in The Lancet, prompting prestigious medical journals to openly refute his claims.
Trump’s decision to permanently sever US relations with WHO follows a pattern of skepticism from world organizations for years, with the President claiming in almost every circumstance that the US is being utilized.
The president has questioned US funding for the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, withdrew from the Paris climate agreement and repeatedly criticized the World Trade Organization.
He also blamed China for taking advantage of the US, pointing to the country for taking US jobs and, now, failing to stop the spread of the corona virus to the US.
Meanwhile, Trump has largely given himself and his government a warm welcome to the handling of a pandemic, although Covid-19 tested errors and national supply shortages when they were most needed.
WHO has been criticized for relying on official Chinese government figures related to the virus, a number that many officials doubt is accurate. They also received criticism for a January 14 tweet that noted that initial investigations by Chinese authorities found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the corona virus.
Critics also question whether WHO is sufficiently independent, given China’s increasing wealth and power. They showed WHO’s exaggerated praise for China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Organizational officials have defended their initial actions when it comes to fighting the corona virus, noting that much was unknown about the virus in January.
The President has also said that if WHO acts properly, it can institutionalize travel bans for people who come from China more quickly.
But health experts and world leaders have expressed concern over the organization’s deforestation amid a pandemic.
In April, more than 1,000 organizations and individuals including charities, medical experts, and health care companies from around the world signed a letter urging the Trump government to reverse direction and maintain funding.
And when Trump issued his letter in May, European leaders – including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – delivered a message of support for WHO while speaking at the World Health Assembly.
“This pandemic has highlighted our vulnerability and explained that we need each other,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. “That’s why more than ever we must unite.”
This story has been updated with additional developments and contexts.
Paul LeBlanc from CNN, Kylie Atwood, Amanda Watts and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.
