Jan 20, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Trump again initiates U.S. withdrawal from World Health Organization

Sareen Habeshian

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order on the US withdrawal from WHO (World Health Organization) in the Oval Office of the WHite House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) — President Trump signs an executive order on the U.S. withdrawal from WHO in the Oval Office on Jan. 20. Photo: Jim Watson / pool / AFP via Getty Images

President Trump fulfilled his campaign pledge Monday to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The big picture: The U.S. is the WHO's top donor, contributing about $130 million per year to help cover its global health preparedness and response, along with efforts to address HIV, tuberculosis, and childhood vaccination, per Devex.

Trump started the process to withdraw from WHO during his first term, claiming the agency failed badly responding to COVID-19 and had not demonstrated its independence from China.
However, then-President Biden reversed it on his first day in office.

Driving the news: Monday's executive order states that the U.S. issued a notice about its withdrawal in 2020 "due to the organization's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic ... and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states."

Additionally, "the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries' assessed payments," it continues, noting China pays less despite having a larger population.

Go deeper: Trump's executive order blitz likely to hit health

Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Add Axios on Google

Trump again initiates U.S. withdrawal from World Health Organization

What to read next