Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

Donald Trump threatens to cut off WHO funding over agency’s handling of outbreak

Donald Trump threatens to cut off WHO funding over agency’s handling of outbreak

US president says World Health Organisation knew about the dangers of the coronavirus months before it took any action. The United States is the largest contributor to the 194-member UN body

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to withhold US funding from the World Health Organisation, saying the United Nations body “missed the call” and implying it knew about the dangers of the coronavirus months before taking any action.

“We're going to put a hold on money sent to the WHO,” Trump said at the daily White House press briefing. “We're going to put a very powerful hold on it and we're going to see.”

“They could have called it months earlier,” he added. “They would have known, and they should have known, and they probably did know, so we'll be looking into that very carefully.”

Asked later in the briefing whether it was wise to cut the global health agency’s funding during a pandemic, Trump denied that a decision had been made.

“I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it,” Trump said. “We’re going to investigate it, we’re going to look at it, but we will look at ending funding.”



The WHO first noted “a pneumonia of unknown cause” in Wuhan in late December. It declared a global health emergency on January 30 and, on March 11, deemed the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

Trump had castigated the WHO on Twitter earlier in the day and issued a veiled threat against the 194-member agency, for whom the United States is the largest contributor.

“The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“Fortunately,” Trump wrote, “I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?”

This was not the first time Trump took issue with the agency’s funding. The White House’s proposed budget for 2021 cuts the US contribution to the organisation significantly, from US$122 million to under US$58 million, though the final decision belongs to Congress.

The WHO has emerged as a popular target of criticism on the right, with conservatives claiming it had relied heavily on potentially suspect data from China in formulating its guidance around the disease.

As late as January 31, WHO representatives were advising countries to keep their borders open even as the virus spread. That same day the Trump administration announced restrictions on some travellers from China.

At that time, the WHO was providing guidance that “travel bans to affected areas or denial of entry to passengers coming from affected areas are usually not effective in preventing the importation” and could “have a significant economic and social impact”.



The agency warned that strictly limiting movement during a pandemic could “interrupt needed aid and technical support” and “disrupt businesses”, although it did allow that if restrictions were “short in duration” they may “may have a public health rationale at the beginning of the containment phase of an outbreak”.

Trump’s ban went far beyond WHO advice, but was also poorly enforced.

The New York Times has found that at least 430,000 people arrived in the United States on direct flights from China even after Trump announced his travel restrictions, and that screening protocols of travellers from China were spotty.

There is also evidence that the White House’s fraught relationship with the WHO exacerbated the United States’ failure to roll out widespread effective testing for the virus.

While the UN was vital in shoring up testing in many countries, the United States refused to use the international body’s testing kits, subsequently scrambling to develop its own. Testing shortages continue to hobble the US’ response to the virus.



The chorus of WHO criticism from the US right wing has recently swelled.

On Monday, Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, said Fox News that the “WHO should be held accountable for helping Communist China lie about the coronavirus.”

Last week, Senator Marco Rubio, also a Florida Republican, put out a statement condemning the “WHO’s current leadership, who have regularly demonstrated their servility to the Chinese Communist Party”.

Rubio called for the resignation of WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying that he is “either complicit or dangerously incompetent. Neither possibility bodes well for his future at the helm of this critical organization.”

The agency came under fire recently when a video emerged of a WHO adviser first pretending not to hear the question, then cutting an interview short when asked about Taiwan.

“When people’s lives were at stake, Taiwan acted to protect them,” said Rubio. “That is exactly what the WHO should be doing; instead, it has undermined global health by carrying water for Beijing.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×