President Donald Trump’s decision to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) has drawn praise from numerous U.S. lawmakers, as the body comes under increasing scrutiny over its ties to Beijing and its handling of the pandemic.
Trump on April 15 declared funding would be halted for 60 to 90 days pending a review “to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.” The United States is the single largest donor to the WHO, contributing more than $400 million in 2019, according to State Department statistics. That figure is roughly 12 percent of WHO’s budget.
