The Trump administration sent a letter giving the United Nations a one-year notice for the U.S. to quit the World Health Organization, formalizing President Donald Trump’s decision to leave the agency.
The administration sent the letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday, making the U.S. withdrawal official on July 6, 2021, under a requirement for a one-year notice, according to Stephane Dujarric, the secretary-general’s spokesman. It’s almost certain that Democratic rival Joe Biden would reverse Trump’s decision if he’s elected in November.
The letter was sent more than a month after Trump announced on May 29 that the U.S. would leave the WHO because of what he said was its undue deference to China and failure to provide accurate information about the coronavirus.
The U.S. has been the WHO’s largest contributor, providing $400 million to $500 million in mandatory and voluntary contributions. Trump earlier announced the U.S. was suspending that funding. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo sought to retain some funding for polio vaccination and coronavirus programs in several poor countries, but it was not known if those programs would continue to be funded.
After President Trump made the announcement the U.S. would be withdrawing, U.S. officials continued to press the WHO and its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to commit to at least some of the changes the president demanded with the prospect Trump would reverse course if it did.
Trump’s initial warning to pull out of the organization was accompanied by a four-page letter detailing his grievances. In it, he called on the WHO to “demonstrate independence from China,” renewing the complaint that led him in April to temporarily suspend U.S. funding.
I suggest USA stays in WHO & works to fix problems & not leave cuz of tantrum over virus.
I think this is a big mistake & knee jerk reaction. The USA should stay in WHO for the good of the entire world. I understand that WHO offered USA testing kits early on & the administration decided to make their own instead. History has shown that an early testing worked in other countries. If we did not belong to WHO, we would probably not had this offer ?
Good move leaving WHO, next we need to leave the UNITED NATIONS, this organization is NOT democratic in any sense of the word, we need to move thier headquarters to TURKEY or somewhere and let somebody else finance this organization, we can use this money to do some good here in AMERICA!!
Good move leaving WHO, next we need to leave the UNITED NATIONS, this organization is NOT democratic in any sense of the word, we need to move thier headquarters to TURKEY or somewhere and let somebody else finance this organization, we can use this money to do some good here in AMERICA!!