Trump Calls WHO ‘China-Friendly’, Halts Funding To The Organization Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

The World Health Organization, an autonomous body, run by the funding it receives by many nations with the United States upholding 15% of its total budget.

In fact, the U.S. paid $893 million to the WHO during its two-year budget window. But now, President Trump has decided to “halt” the U.S. fund to the WHO as he believes the organization has been supporting China and aiding it in covering up the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.

On April 14, during a press conference, Trump expressed his misgiving about WHO, declaring that his administration will "halt" U.S. funding to the organization while it reviews its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have deep concerns about whether America's generosity has been put to the best use possible,” the president said.

According to Trump, WHO “failed to adequately obtain, vet and share information in a timely and transparent fashion” by not being quick in informing the world leaders about COVID-19 and being too China-friendly.

"And the World – WHO – World Health got it wrong," the president added. "I mean, they got it very wrong. In many ways, they were wrong. They also minimized the threat very strongly and – not good.” He also criticized the organization for advising the U.S. against banning travel from China to other parts of the world during the pandemic, which is just an example of the organization "severely mismanaging and covering up" the spread of the coronavirus.

"This is an evaluation period, but in the meantime, we're putting a hold on all funds going to World Health," Trump said. The review he mentioned would take somewhere around 60 to 90 days during which the money earmarked for WHO will be invested in other areas to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

But the American Medical Association is not in support of the president’s decision

"During the worst public health crisis in a century, halting funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) is a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier," AMA President Patrice A. Harris said in a statement. "Cutting funding to the WHO - rather than focusing on solutions - is a dangerous move at a precarious moment for the world.”