On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States will leave the World Health Organization (WHO). He claimed that the organization did not handle the COVID-19 pandemic well and was influenced by politics from its member countries.
Trump argued that the WHO unfairly required the U.S. to pay more money compared to other countries, especially larger ones like China. “The WHO ripped us off, and that won’t happen anymore,” he said during the announcement. As a result of this decision, the U.S. will stop all financial support for the WHO after 12 months.
The United States is the largest financial supporter of the WHO, usually giving about 18% of its total budget. The WHO’s budget for the years 2024-2025 is set at $6.8 billion. Trump’s plan to leave the WHO isn’t surprising; he attempted to withdraw from the organization in 2020. He accused the WHO of helping China hide information about how COVID-19 started. The WHO has strongly denied these claims and continues to urge China to share information to find out if COVID came from infected animals or research in a lab.
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