- President Trump orders CDC to cease all collaborations with WHO, marking a significant policy shift.
- The directive halts a wide range of interactions, including participation in technical groups and visits to WHO offices.
- Trump criticizes WHO’s handling of COVID-19 and funding inequities, rejecting a $39 million offer to rejoin.
- The move reflects Trump’s dissatisfaction with WHO, praised by supporters but criticized by detractors for its potential consequences.
President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to immediately cease all collaborations with the World Health Organization (WHO). The directive, detailed in a memo sent by CDC official John Nkengasong on Sunday night, marks a significant policy shift that some claim could disrupt critical global health initiatives.
The memo applies to a wide range of interactions, including participation in technical working groups, advisory boards, and cooperative agreements, both in-person and virtually. CDC personnel are also prohibited from visiting WHO offices. This abrupt halt in collaboration follows Trump’s recent executive order initiating the process for the U.S. to withdraw from the WHO, a move that has been long anticipated but was not generally expected to be implemented so swiftly.
Trump’s criticism of WHO and conditions for rejoining
President Trump has been a vocal critic of the WHO, particularly over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has accused the organization of providing flawed guidance and yielding to political pressures, notably from China. Trump has also highlighted the disproportionate financial burden the U.S. bears in funding the WHO, a point he emphasized during a rally in Las Vegas.
«We paid $500 million a year and China paid $39 million a year despite a much larger population. Think of that. China’s paying $39 million to have 1.4 billion people, we pay $500 million we have – no one knows what the hell we have, does anyone know? We have so many people pouring in we have no idea,» Trump told rally attendees.
In a further jab at the WHO, Trump revealed that the organization offered to let the U.S. back in for $39 million annually, a figure he flatly rejected. «They offered me at $39 million, they said «We’ll let you back in for 39 million,» they’re going to reduce it from [500 million] to [39 million], and I turned them down, because it became so popular I didn’t know if it would be well received even at [39 million], but maybe we would consider doing it again. I don’t know; they have to clean it up a bit,» he said.
Despite the withdrawal, the sudden cessation of CDC collaboration with the WHO has taken public health experts by surprise. Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a public health expert at the University of Southern California, described the move as «a big problem» that disrupts crucial lines of communication. «People thought there would be a slow withdrawal. This has really caught everyone with their pants down,» he said, noting that the collaboration provides critical information on emerging outbreaks, new treatments, and tests.
While the move has raised concerns among health experts, Trump’s supporters argue that the U.S. should not be shouldering such a large financial burden for an organization that, in their view, has failed to meet its responsibilities.
President Trump’s decision to order the CDC to stop working with the WHO is a clear signal of his administration’s dissatisfaction with the organization’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its funding structure. While the move has been praised by some for addressing perceived inequities, detractors insist it could have a negative impact on global health initiatives. As the situation unfolds, the international community will be closely watching to see how this policy shift affects ongoing efforts to combat global health threats and whether the U.S. will eventually rejoin the WHO under different terms.
Sources for this article include: