On the first day of his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order while making gestures inside Capital One Arena in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2025.
The order’s specifics were not immediately available, but it was one of many executive measures that Trump signed in the Oval Office on Monday.
Before signing the agreement, Trump remarked, “That’s a big one.”
The WHO, which is headquartered in Geneva, is essential in combating risks to global health, concentrating on infectious diseases, humanitarian emergencies, and long-term illnesses including cancer and heart disease. If the US leaves, it might not have the necessary funds. The World Health Organization reports that US contributions totaled $662 million for the 2024–25 budget cycle, or 19% of the agency’s overall revenue.
Trump’s plan for the US to leave the WHO raises questions
Trump attempted to remove the US from the international health agency near the end of his first term, claiming that it failed to act swiftly enough to limit the disease and gave too much deference to the Chinese government in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. Both Democratic politicians and health advocates strongly condemned the action, calling it a political ploy to shift responsibility for the administration’s catastrophic pandemic response.
The United States agreed that a one-year notice period and full payment of financial obligations would be required prior to a withdrawal when it joined the WHO in 1948. Before the notice time ended, in January 2021, President Joe Biden undid Trump’s efforts.
According to a 2020 Congressional Research Service analysis, it is uncertain if the US president can leave the WHO without the consent of Congress. Nonetheless, it seems unlikely that Trump’s move would be stopped by the Republican-controlled Congress.
The organization that helped eradicate smallpox globally and now fights infectious diseases like polio and HIV would suffer greatly if the US left. Health emergencies, including as cholera, dengue, mpox, and Marburg virus outbreaks, are now being addressed by the WHO.