President Donald Trump, just hours after taking office, announced an executive order directing the U.S. to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), citing the global health body’s failure to act independently and its excessive financial demands on the United States. Trump criticized the WHO for being influenced by the “inappropriate political pressures of member states,” particularly China, and for requiring “unfairly onerous payments” from the U.S. that were disproportionate compared to contributions from other major countries.
“We’ve been ripped off by the World Health Organization, and it’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump stated during the signing of the order.
The decision means the U.S. will formally withdraw from the WHO within a year and stop its financial contributions to the organization. Currently, the U.S. is the largest financial contributor, providing approximately 18% of the WHO’s total funding. The organization’s budget for 2024-2025 stands at $6.8 billion.
Trump had previously moved to pull the U.S. from the WHO during his first term, accusing the body of supporting China’s efforts to “mislead the world” regarding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump’s Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement
In another executive order, Trump signed a directive to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement for a second time. This agreement, signed by nearly 200 countries, aims to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, with an ideal target of 1.5 degrees. Each country is responsible for setting its own climate action plan, although the agreement is not legally binding.
Trump had first initiated the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris accord in 2017, but the move was reversed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office in 2021.
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