President Trump threatens to cut WHO funding over China bias
President Donald Trump held a press conference this Friday and told reporters that he was going to hold US funds from the World Health Organization (WHO).
During Friday’s press conference President Donald Trump threatened to cut United States funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) because he is accusing them of being biased toward China during the coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump said to reporters that next week he will make an announcement on the WHO, “ "as you know, we have given them approximately $500 million a year, and we are going to be talking about that subject next week. We'll have a lot to say about it. China has been paying them (WHO) less than $40 million over the years and we send $300 to $500 a year.”
The United States is the largest contributor to the WHO and they voluntarily gave between approximately $100 million and $400 million in 2017, the most recent year for which figures are available. The WHO’s total budget for 2016 and 2017 combined was over $4 billion.
“China always seems to get the better of the argument and I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s appropriate and I don’t think it’s fair to the American people,” said Trump, and he has expressed that same sentiment to Chinese leader Xi Jinping and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The WHO has increasingly been the focus of questions from Trump and certain commentators about its response to the coronavirus pandemic, including information it tweeted in January that quoted “preliminary” findings from Chinese authorities that downplayed the seriousness of the virus that has since turned into a pandemic, shutting down daily life around the globe.