President Trump signed executive order the process of the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization began. It was among dozens of executive actions he signed after being sworn in on Monday for a second term, on issues ranging from immigration to foreign policy to climate change.
It was the second time in less than five years that he ordered a country out of the organization, despite it being a move that many scientists fear could reverse decades of progress in fighting infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Experts also warn that the move could weaken the world's defenses against new dangerous outbreaks that could cause pandemics.
The WHO came under heavy criticism from Mr. Trump in 2020 for his answer to COVID-19 a pandemic that escalated into a global health crisis in the final year of his first term.
The White House said in a statement that the U.S. would withdraw “because of the organization's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its failure to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states”.
He also accused the WHO of demanding “unjustly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion to the payments accrued by other countries.”
The order said Mr Trump was sending a presidential letter to the United Nations secretary general to formally inform him of the US plans to withdraw.