Trump threatens to cut off permanent funding for WHO, reconsider US membership

Washington DC [USA], May 19 (ANI): US President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently halt funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO) if it did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and to reconsider the membership of the United States in the global health body.

On Monday, Trump wrote a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus that read, “If WHO doesn’t commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of US funding to WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation.”

Trump had temporarily suspended US’ contribution to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China’s “disinformation” about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and Beijing said that it was transparent and open.

“The only way forward for the WHO is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organisation. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste,” Trump said in the letter.

“I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America’s interests,” he added. On Monday, the WHO said that an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin at the earliest and it received backing from China, where the virus was first discovered.

European Union backs WHO after Trump’s new threat over funding

The European Union (EU) has come out in support of the World Health Organization (WHO) after US President Donald Trump threatened to permanently suspend funding to the agency.

“The European Union backs the WHO in its efforts to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak and has already provided additional funding to support these efforts,” a spokesperson for the European Commission Virginie Battu-Henriksson was quoted as saying by CNN on Tuesday.

This comes after Trump told WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday that the US will completely stop funding the international agency unless it commits to major improvements within the next 30 days.

On Tuesday, the EU spokesperson stressed that “global cooperation and solidarity through multilateral efforts” was “the only effective and viable option to win” the fight against the novel coronavirus.

“This is the time for solidarity, it is not the time for finger-pointing or undermining multilateral cooperation, especially today as we are awaiting for the approval … of a resolution which has been presented by the European Union and its member states at the World Health Assembly,” Battu-Henriksson added.

In April, the US President suspended the funding for the WHO over its “China-centric” policies. Trump had also accused the global health body of ignoring credible reports on the spread of the virus and making incorrect and misleading claims about the deadly contagion under pressure from Beijing. (ANI)