Trump Will 'Withdraw' the U.S. from the World Health Organization

According to reports, the transition team of the President-elect of the United States is working to announce the 'withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization' on the first day of Donald Trump's entry into the White House. The Financial Times and Reuters reported this news on Monday, December 23, citing experts who heard the matter from Mr. Trump's transition team. Lawrence Gostin, a global health professor at Georgetown University, told the Financial Times that he is aware that the transition team is trying to announce the U.S. withdrawal on January 20, the day of Donald Trump's inauguration, or at most a few days later. This university professor described such an event as 'creating a huge void' in global health funding and leadership, adding that no one can fill this gap and the exit plan 'on the first day' would be 'catastrophic' for global health. The United States is the largest funder of the World Health Organization, providing about 16% of the organization's budget last year. Ashish Jha, a former Biden administration official for COVID coordination and dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, also told the Financial Times that 'many of the people who will be part of the new administration's inner circle' do not trust the World Health Organization. According to Reuters, one of these individuals is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been introduced as Trump's candidate for the position of Secretary of Health and is skeptical about the efficacy of vaccines. Donald Trump began the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization during his previous presidency after the outbreak of COVID-19, accusing the UN agency of being under China's control. However, this withdrawal process was not finalized, and about six months later, his successor, Joe Biden, resumed the U.S. relationship with the organization on his first day in office. Mr. Trump's transition team has not yet reacted to the Financial Times report.