Withdrawing from the Chinese Communist World Health Organization, By Charles Taylor (Florida)

Back when I saw the news about President Trump signing that executive order on January 20, 2025, to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, I had mixed feelings. Part of me was like, "Heck yeah, about time!" and part of me wondered if this was going to be a mess, given CCP influence. The Epoch Times laid it out clear: Trump's fed up with the WHO's screw-ups during Covid-19 and how it seems to dance to China's tune while America foots the bill. I get why he'd want to slam the door on them, it's about taking back control and saying, "Enough's enough." But pulling out isn't like quitting a book club; it's a big, messy deal with legal hoops, money fights, and global health stuff at stake. Still, the more I explored it it, the more I think this move makes sense, and that Australia if it gets a decent government, needs to do the same, one day.

Leaving the WHO isn't as simple as saying, "We're done." Back in 1948, Congress set up a rule that says the U.S. can quit with a year's notice, but only if we pay up what we owe for that year. So, Trump's order stops funding right away, but we're still on the hook for cash through mid-2026. And it's not pocket change, America's been shelling out big time, like $1.28 billion in 2022–2023, way more than anybody else. For 2024–2025, we're talking close to $988 million, about 14% of the WHO's whole budget. That's a ton of money, and untangling it means dealing with diplomats, lawyers, and a whole lot of headaches. Plus, Trump's team is ditching talks on the WHO's pandemic plans, which makes things trickier. It's like trying to leave a bad lease, you can walk out, but you're still paying rent for a while.

Let's talk about why this feels so justified. The WHO botched Covid-19, big time. I remember those early days, hearing about some weird flu in China, and the WHO dragging its feet. A House report from December 2024 called it an "abject failure." They ignored Taiwan's heads-up about sketchy pneumonia cases in Wuhan back in December 2019. Why? Because China leaned on them, and they caved. That delay let the virus spread like wildfire, and it's hard to forgive. The report says the WHO's too cozy with the Chinese Communist Party, which is a gut punch when you realise America's paying the most, way more than China, who's got three times our population but chips in like 90% less. It's like we're bankrolling a club that takes orders from our rival. No wonder Trump's saying, "We're out."

The money part really gets me. The U.S. is basically carrying the WHO on our back. We fund 95% of their tuberculosis work in Europe, 60% in places like Africa, and up to 40% of their big emergency operations. Meanwhile, China's barely pitching in, and the WHO still bends over backward for them. It's not just unfair, it's unsustainable. Trump's order calls it "unfairly onerous," and I can't argue with that. Imagine what we could do with that billion bucks, like fixing our own hospitals or working directly with countries we trust. The WHO's acting like we owe them, but they're not delivering. Pulling out lets us spend smarter, without their red tape and political games.

The WHO's reaction says it all. Their boss, Tedros, was all buddy-buddy with the U.S. in December, calling us a "model partner." Now he's begging world leaders to stop this, saying we'll lose access to outbreak alerts. Their finance guy,Kyriacou, admitted they might be scraping by in 2026 without our money. That's not confidence; that's panic. Tedros even tried to guilt-trip us, saying America's safety depends on them. Really? After they fumbled Covid? I'm not buying it. We can team up with other countries directly. The WHO's acting like we can't survive without them, but I think they're the ones who can't survive without us. Some are saying the WHO's already planning to cut 40% of its staff. That's how shaky they are.

Speaking of the CDC, they're not messing around. On January 26, 2025, their deputy director, John Nkengasong, told staff to cut all ties with the WHO, effective immediately. No more Zoom calls, no more joint projects, nothing. Some public health folks, like Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, were caught off guard, expecting a slower exit. But I get why it's full speed ahead. The WHO's burned too many bridges, and we can't keep pretending they're reliable. It's like breaking up with someone who keeps letting you down, you don't drag it out; you just go.

Let's be real: the WHO's been dropping the ball, and staying in hasn't stopped China from pulling strings. We can still fight global health threats by working directly with allies or through groups like the G7's health initiatives. We don't need the WHO's baggage to get it done.

At the end of the day, the WHO's lost its way. It's supposed to be a neutral ref for global health, but it's playing favourites, especially with China. That House report nailed it, their Covid missteps made things worse, and they haven't fixed their act since. Add in the crazy amount of money we're pouring in for so little in return, and it's clear why Trump's pulling the plug. Sure, the one-year wait and paying up what we owe isn't fun, but it's doable with some smart planning. The U.S. has the brains and the cash to lead on health without the WHO's drama. We can build better partnerships, ones that actually put science first and don't leave us footing the bill for everyone else.

Trump's WHO exit is a gut-check moment. It's about saying we're done with a broken system that takes our money and spits in our face. The WHO's had years to get its act together, and it's still playing politics over people. Walking away's not easy, there's paperwork, money fights, and some real risks, but it's worth it to protect what's ours and push for a system that actually works. I'm betting we'll come out stronger, working with partners who share our values and cutting through the WHO's noise. Here's to hoping this shakes things up for the better!

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/heres-what-to-know-about-us-withdrawal-from-the-who-5803616

"On the first day in office of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), making good on a project from his first administration.

Trump's Jan. 20 order halted U.S. funding to the United Nations body, citing the WHO's "mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China," as well as other global health concerns.

Negotiations with the group about a pandemic agreement and the International Health Regulations will be suspended while the withdrawal is taking place.

Because of the 1948 joint resolution by Congress, the United States has the right to withdraw from the WHO, but it must give a one-year notice. The resolution also requires the United States to fulfill "financial obligations" to the WHO for the current fiscal year.

The Largest WHO Funder

The United States is currently the largest WHO funder, contributing about $1.28 billion during 2022–2023, the last reported year on the organization's website. That equates to almost half of the WHO's joint external evaluation missions for the last fiscal year.

The 2024–2025 fiscal year is shaping up similarly, with the United States serving as the largest donor by far, contributing an estimated $988 million, or roughly 14 percent of the WHO's $6.9 billion budget.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that the United States covers about 95 percent of the WHO's work on tuberculosis in Europe and about 60 percent in Africa and the Western Pacific, and that the WHO's Europe office is more than 8 percent reliant on U.S. contributions.

Additionally, U.S. funding provides "the backbone of many of WHO's large-scale emergency operations," covering up to 40 percent of that funding.

WHO Response

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described relations with the United States as "a good model partnership" during a press briefing in Geneva in December 2024.

"[We] have been partnering for many years, and we believe that will be the case. And I believe the U.S. leaders understand that the United States cannot be safe unless the rest of the world is safe," he told reporters.

Following the announcement of Trump's decision to remove the United States from the organization, Ghebreyesus spoke out, asking world leaders to push the White House to reverse the decision.

The WHO chief said during a closed-door meeting with diplomats that the United States would miss out on critical information about disease outbreaks, The Associated Press reported.

George Kyriacou, the agency's finance director, said if the WHO's spending continues at its current level without funding from the United States, the organization would be "very much in a hand-to-mouth type situation" regarding cash flow for at least portions of 2026.

CDC Response

Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have ordered agency employees to stop working with the WHO, effective immediately.

John Nkengasong, the CDC's deputy director for global health, sent a memo to agency leadership on Jan. 26 calling on staff to cease collaborating with the WHO immediately and wait for further guidance. CDC staff also are not allowed to engage with the WHO, virtually or in person, and staff members are not allowed to visit the WHO offices.

Some public health experts, including Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of medicine and global health at UCLA who works with the WHO on sexually transmitted infections, have voiced concern about halting the collaboration.

"Stopping communications and meetings with WHO is a big problem," Klausner said. "People thought there would be a slow withdrawal. This has really caught everyone with their pants down."

Behind the Withdrawal

The Trump administration said the WHO was not able to demonstrate independence from the "inappropriate political influence" of member states and had failed to "adopt urgently needed reforms."

The president's executive order also cites "unfairly onerous payments" by the United States that Trump said are "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 stated.

This is Trump's second attempt to withdraw from the WHO. The president began the process in 2020 because of frustration over the WHO's reaction to China's coverup of details surrounding the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The House Oversight and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a report in December 2024 on the WHO's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it "an abject failure."

According to the report, the WHO is accused of bending to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and placing "China's political interests ahead of its international duties."

As part of the alleged failure, the WHO reportedly ignored warnings by Taiwan on Dec. 31, 2019, about "atypical pneumonia cases" in Wuhan, which it asked the WHO to investigate.

"The initial mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic not only potentially caused the further spread of the virus, but it created a situation where people lost trust in the global public health organization," the report stated."