President Trump has wasted no time making major changes, ordering that the United States withdraw form the World Health Organization.

The executive order cited issues with WHO’s independence, as well as its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as the reasons for the withdrawal.

The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states. In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO.

The order authorizes the Secretary of State and Director of the Office of Management and Budget to take the following action:

(i) pause the future transfer of any United States Government funds, support, or resources to the WHO;

(ii) recall and reassign United States Government personnel or contractors working in any capacity with the WHO; and

(iii) identify credible and transparent United States and international partners to assume necessary activities previously undertaken by the WHO.

The move is a major departure from previous administrations and US policy. Only time will tell what the the repercussions will be.