President Donald Trump’s move to halt funding to the World Health Organization has been met with severe criticism at home and abroad.
What We Know:
- Trump made the announcement Tuesday pending a review of the WHO’s response to the initial coronavirus outbreak in China. He claims the agency has been too close to Beijing and covered up for its mistakes.
- Congressional Democrats are disputing the president’s authority to do this. Republican lawmakers are currently planning their own investigation, looking into the early response by the WHO and the Chinese government.
- “Now is a time for unity in the global battle to push the COVID-19 pandemic into reverse, not a time to cut the resources of the World Health Organization, which is spearheading and coordinating the global body’s efforts,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Tuesday.
- According to NBC, China expressed “deep concern” about Trump’s announcement, its foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said at a news briefing.
- “As the most authoritative and most professional organization, the World Health Organization has played an irreplaceable role in global public health crisis,” Zhao said. “The decision of the U.S. will undercut the ability of the WHO and damage the global cooperation of fighting the epidemic.”
- The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, tweeted similar suspicions.
Deeply regret US decision to suspend funding to @WHO. There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the #coronavirus pandemic. Only by joining forces we can overcome this crisis that knows no borders.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 15, 2020
- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov slammed Trump’s move as “a very selfish approach.” He told the TASS news agency, “We urge the United States to abandon further attacks on the WHO and pursue a responsible line.”
- Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the African Union Commission, called the decision “deeply regrettable.”
- Trump has accused the WHO of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the coronavirus crisis, specifically the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China. He also claimed that the WHO “pushed China’s misinformation about the virus … and there was no need for travel bans.”
- He took issue with the agency’s criticism of his order to temporarily deny entry to the U.S. by most foreign nationals who had recently been in China. The order was issued Jan. 31, when China was the center of the outbreak.
- Dr. Patrice Harris, the president of the American Medical Association, excoriated the president in a statement Tuesday for making the move “during the worst public health crisis in a century”.
“Cutting funding to the WHO — rather than focusing on solutions — is a dangerous move at a precarious moment for the world,” Harris said. “The AMA is deeply concerned by this decision and its wide-ranging ramifications, and we strongly urge the President to reconsider.”
