RT-Engels: 21-01-2025,
The US president had initiated the exit during his first term, a move later reversed by Joe Biden
President Donald Trump has announced that the US will exit the World Health Organization (WHO). On Monday, his first day in office, he signed an executive order to initiate the process of withdrawing, declaring that the US would leave the UN global public health agency within 12 months.
The move marks the second time Trump has ordered his country’s withdrawal from the WHO. He took steps to exit the organization in 2020, accusing it of assisting China in efforts to “mislead the world” about the origins of Covid-19. His successor Joe Biden would then reverse the decision, in his own inauguration-day move.
Trump’s order on Monday stated that the US was withdrawing “due to the organization’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic.” It also cited the WHO’s alleged “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
The president also argued that the organization imposed “unfairly onerous payments” on the US, which were disproportionate compared to contributions from other, more populous countries, such as China.
”World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said at the signing of the executive order, according to media.
The WHO, as a coordinating authority on international health issues,