President Trump on Monday threatened to completely cease US funding to the World Well being Group until the physique commits to “substantive enhancements” throughout the subsequent 30 days.
The announcement was made in a scathing letter Trump despatched to WHO Director-Normal Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday and later shared screenshots of on Twitter.
“That’s the reason it’s my responsibility, as President of the US, to tell you that, if the World Well being Group doesn’t decide to main substantive enhancements throughout the subsequent 30 days, I’ll make my short-term freeze of United States funding to the World Well being Group everlasting and rethink our membership within the group,” Trump wrote.
“I can’t enable American taxpayer {dollars} to proceed to finance a corporation that, in its current state, is so clearly not serving American’s pursuits,” the letter continued.
The president within the letter stated his administration has been in talks with the WHO on “learn how to reform the group,” with out elaborating on the measures.
Trump in mid-April suspended funds to the WHO and directed his administration to overview whether or not the company mishandled its response to the coronavirus pandemic popping out of China.
In Monday’s letter, Trump stated the “overview has confirmed lots of the critical considerations I raised final month and recognized others that the World Well being Group ought to have addressed, particularly the World Well being Group’s alarming lack of independence from the Individuals’s Republic of China.”
Earlier Monday, Trump stated the WHO had “achieved a really unhappy job” in its dealing with of the virus and he would decide quickly on U.S. funding.
The WHO additionally stated earlier Monday an impartial overview of the worldwide virus response would start as quickly as attainable and it acquired backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China, within the highlight because the origin of the pandemic.
With Submit wires