Trump Calls WHO a ‘Pipe Organ for China,’ Accuses Agency of Misleading US

Trump Calls WHO a ‘Pipe Organ for China,’ Accuses Agency of Misleading US
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards(D-LA) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 29, 2020. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Updated:

President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of withholding information from the United States and being a “pipe organ” for the Chinese regime amid the CCP virus outbreak.

During a meeting with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards in the Oval Office, Trump was asked by a reporter, “Mr. President, what are you hoping to learn about China and the World Health Organization with this investigation you’ve commissioned with the intelligence agencies?”

The White House has reportedly ordered intelligence agencies to investigate whether China and the WHO initially held back information they had gathered about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, NBC News reported earlier, citing unnamed current and former U.S. officials.

In response to the reporter, Trump said that he has been receiving updates on the investigation.

“It’s coming in and I’m getting pieces already. And we’re not happy about it. And we are, by far, the largest contributor to [the] WHO,” Trump said.

“And they misled us. I don’t know. They must’ve known more than they knew because they came after what other people knew that weren’t even involved,” he continued. “We knew things that they didn’t know. And either they didn’t know or they didn’t tell us, or—you know, right now they’re literally a pipe organ for China. That’s the way I view it.”

Trump noted that the United States has been contributing more than $400 million to Geneva-based WHO “for many years,” while China contributes only $38 million, he said.

According to the WHO’s records, China contributed $86 million through 2019, while the United States gave $893 million.

“And yet, they [the WHO] seem to work for China. And they should’ve been in there [China] early. They should’ve known what was going on,” Trump said, adding that the WHO could have stopped the spread of the CCP virus.

“Why did China allow planes to fly out but not into China, but they allow planes to come out?” the president also asked. “And planes are coming out of Wuhan, and they’re coming out; they’re going all over the world.

“They’re going to Italy, very—very big time to Italy. But they’re going all over the world. But they’re not going into China. What was that all about?”

Earlier this month, Trump halted funding to the WHO until his administration completes a review over the United Nations agency’s response to the CCP virus crisis.
Leaders of Group of Seven (G7) countries have also called for a thorough review and reform of the WHO and criticized the agency for its “lack of transparency and chronic mismanagement” of the CCP virus pandemic.
On Monday, Trump said that the United States is investigating China’s handling of the CCP virus crisis and may seek hundreds of billions in damages from Beijing.

The president has also on multiple occasions cast doubt upon and questioned the Chinese regime’s reported numbers of CCP virus cases and deaths.