The United States officially withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday, ending a process that had been warned for over a year could harm both domestic and global public health efforts. Washington cited what it described as the WHO’s failures in handling the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for the decision.
According to a joint press release from the US Departments of Health and State, the US will continue limited cooperation with the WHO only to facilitate the withdrawal process, Reuters reported
President Donald Trump announced his intention to leave the organization on the first day of his 2025 term through an executive order.
“We have no plans to participate as an observer, nor do we plan to rejoin,” a senior government health official stated. Instead, the US plans to work directly with other countries on disease monitoring and other public health priorities, bypassing the international body.
US law requires a one-year notice and payment of outstanding fees approximately $260 million before withdrawal. However, a State Department official argued that the statute does not explicitly require fees to be paid prior to leaving. “The American people have paid more than enough,” a spokesperson said in an email.
The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that US funding to the WHO has ceased. The HHS spokesperson said Trump had used his authority to halt future US contributions, claiming the organization had cost the country trillions of dollars.
Witnesses reported that the US flag was removed from the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday.
This move comes as the US has recently sought to exit several other United Nations organizations, raising concerns that Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace could weaken the UN as a whole.
