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Trump Orders US To Exit WHO on His First Day Back in Office

On Monday, President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, a move criticized by public health experts on his first day back in the White House.

Trump has consistently criticized the United Nations’ health agency, and he initiated the US withdrawal from the WHO in July 2020 amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

However, four years earlier, then-President Joe Biden halted the US withdrawal from the organization, which is responsible for coordinating the global response to health crises. This action was one of Biden’s initial moves after assuming office.

The executive order issued on Monday cites the “organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China, and other global health crises” as reasons for the US’s withdrawal.

It also highlights its failure to implement urgently needed reforms and inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.

“That’s a big one,” Trump remarked to an aide while signing the executive order, referring to his 2020 decision and his view that the US was contributing excessively compared to other countries.

In 2020, Trump also repeatedly accused the WHO of helping China conceal the origins of Covid-19 and enabling its spread.

When Trump first announced the withdrawal, legislators from both parties criticized the WHO. However, many condemned his decision to withdraw amid a once-in-a-century global pandemic.

Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described it as “an act of true senselessness.” Similarly, retired Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, then-chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, expressed disagreement with Trump’s decision.

Dr. Ashish Jha, who served as the White House Covid-19 response coordinator during the Biden administration, labeled Trump’s withdrawal in his second term as a “strategic error.”

“The WHO is a crucial organization, and America’s withdrawal creates a political vacuum that only one country can fill — and that is China,” Jha stated during a CNN interview on Monday.

He suggested that China would likely step in to support the organization, potentially increasing its political influence globally.

Lawrence Gostin, a public health law professor at Georgetown University, posted on X that Trump’s withdrawal from the WHO is “the most momentous of all Trump’s executive actions on Monday.”

He added, “It’s a cataclysmic presidential decision. Withdrawal not only severely damages global health but also inflicts a deeper wound on the US.”

Jha highlighted that the withdrawal undermines the WHO, which relies heavily on US expertise and personnel, especially in monitoring global influenza.

Trump’s executive action directs the secretary of state and the director of the Office of Management and Budget to “halt any future transfer of US Government funds, support, or resources” to the WHO.

Although the complete withdrawal process takes a year, during which the US is obligated to continue funding the organization, Jha questioned, “But who’s going to enforce the obligation? Will Donald Trump be swayed by global norms?”

Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president on Monday, promising to usher in a “revolution of common sense.” With the Republican Party controlling Washington, they are poised to fundamentally transform the nation’s institutions.

Despite surviving impeachments, criminal indictments, and two assassination attempts, Trump secured another term and plans to hit the ground running.

Immediately following the inauguration, he intends to sign a series of executive orders aimed at tightening border security, boosting fossil fuel production, and discontinuing diversity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government.

His inaugural address promised to mark the start of “a thrilling new era of national success,” proclaiming that a “tide of change is sweeping across the country.”