Trump Announces His Final Decision on World Health Organization
Amid a fiery tirade aimed at China, President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the United States is severing its relationship with the World Health Organization.
During a Rose Garden appearance at which he took no questions, Trump slammed China for its response to the coronavirus.
“The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government,” Trump said.
“China’s cover-up of the Wuhan Virus allowed the disease to spread all over the world, instigating a global pandemic that has cost more than 100,000 American lives and over a million lives worldwide,” he went on.
“Chinese officials ignored their reporting obligations to the World Health Organization and pressured the World Health Organization to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered by Chinese authorities.”
Trump later turned to the WHO. Because of his dissatisfaction with the organization, the president had initially suspended funding to the WHO and went on to call for reforms.
“China has total control over the World Health Organization despite only paying $40 million per year compared to what the United States has been paying, which is approximately $450 million a year,” Trump said.
“We have detailed the reforms that it must make and engaged with them directly, but they have refused to act.
“Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs.”
Some lashed out at the president after his announcement.
Trump said “The world needs answers from China on the virus.” We’re less likely to get answers on anything (or viral samples for research), if we’re not a @WHO member. He’s planning on “redirecting funding”-where? For what? Polio? AIDS? Malaria? TB? https://t.co/ClyWcRnW54
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) May 29, 2020
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump failed to talk about the issues that mattered — coronavirus and racism.
“President Trump’s Rose Garden event just now was pathetic. It perfectly encapsulates his inability to lead when our nation needs it most. The only question is whether President Trump is afraid to lead or just doesn’t know how,” Schumer said in a statement, according to The Hill.
“Our communities are hurting from senseless murders and years of racism and injustice. But President Trump is only interested in scapegoating and divisiveness when he should be leading,” Schumer said.
Patrice Harris, the president of the American Medical Association, said Trump’s action “serves no logical purpose and makes finding a way out of this public health crisis dramatically more challenging,” The Washington Post reported.
Others rallied around the president.
I am so proud of our President @realDonaldTrump for his decisive and firm actions today with #China and the @WHO.
America First is another campaign promise KEPT. ??
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) May 29, 2020
America doesn’t need to be paying an organization hundreds of millions of dollars a year to lie to us and do more to aid Communist China’s cover-up than protect the world from a pandemic.@realDonaldTrump is right to terminate our relationship with the World Health Organization.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) May 29, 2020
Great news:
President Trump has just terminated our relationship with @WHO, a pro-abortion organization that claims:
– Killing children advances “health”
– Contraception is one of the “best investments for women’s health”
– Abortion is an “essential service” during #COVID19
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) May 29, 2020
During his Rose Garden appearance, Trump also slammed China on trade, accused the communist regime of stealing intellectual property and said that because Hong Kong’s pro-China leadership is muzzling pro-democracy protesters, Hong Kong’s special trade status would be revoked.
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