The Trump administration is halting funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) pending an investigation into the group’s alleged “mismanagement” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He has instructed his administration to halt funding to the WHO. The American president criticizes the World Health Organization for its mismanagement of the Coronavirus pandemic Covid-19. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
While speaking at the White House Tuesday, the president accused the organization of covering up China’s misreporting about the spread of coronavirus. Many are skeptical of the WHO’s handling of the virus, which reported that there was “no clear evidence” of human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 as late as mid-January.
” Today I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while our review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” he stated.
President Trump went on to say the WHO made a “disastrous decision” by failing to support travel restrictions from China and other nations in the beginning stages of the pandemic.
“American taxpayers provide between $400 million and $500 million per year to the WHO,” he continued. “In contrast, China contributes roughly $40 million a year and even less…as the organization’s leading sponsor, the United States has a duty to insist on full accountability.
President Donald Trump spoke about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, Tuesday, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Meanwhile, a WHO official said the organization knew “right from the start” there was a possibility of human-to-human transmission of COVID-19.
During a recent press briefing at the WHO’s headquarters on Monday, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said she was “immediately” suspicious of human transmission as early as December. However, the WHO stated on social media and in a press release in mid-January that there was “no clear evidence of this in Wuhan, China.”