Donald Trump signed an order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization (WHO), just hours after he took oath as the 47th President of the country.
Stating the reason behind withdrawing from the international organisation, the executive order said: “The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
“In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO,” the order said.
If the US moves out from WHO then the nation will also stop its financial contribution to it, media reports said.
The US is WHO’s biggest financial contributor.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ashish Jha, who served as White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator during the Biden administration, described the action as a ‘strategic error’.
“WHO is a pretty essential organization — and with America’s withdrawal, it creates a political vacuum that only one country can fill — and that is China,” Jha told CNN.
Donald Trump became only the second President in US history, after Grover Cleveland in 1893, to return to power after being voted out of the White House.
Trump made history by replacing Joe Biden as the oldest President of the United States.
Trump’s return to the Oval Office has been quite a dramatic one that saw him defy two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction to win the historic election, including him registering a win in every single swing state in the country.
His Republican party has returned to power with a majority in both the House of Representatives, as well as the Senate, giving President Trump massive power to push through any agendas he feels necessary.
