President-elect Donald Trump will reportedly pull the United States out of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the first day of his administration, the Financial Times reported.
Members of the Trump transition team told experts that they plan to make the announcement on January 20.
The U.S. is the WHO’s largest single donor, the report said. The nation provided about 16% of its funding in 2022-2023.
“There are lots of people who are going to be part of the inner circle of the administration who do not trust the WHO and want to symbolically show on day one that they are out,” President Joe Biden’s former White House COVID response co-ordinator and Ashish Jha said.
A Trump transition team member told the Financial Times, “The same WHO that we left in the first administration? It seems like we wouldn’t much care what they have to say.”
Earlier this year, two states passed legislation prohibiting the WHO from having authority.
On May 28, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R) signed a bill that “disallow[s] the exercise of jurisdiction by the World Health Organization, United Nations, and the World Economic Forum within the state of Louisiana,” according to a summary of the legislation. “It prevents the state or any of its political subdivisions from enforcing or implementing any rules, regulations, fees, taxes, policies, or mandates from these international organizations.”
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R) also signed a bill prohibiting global bodies from threatening the state’s sovereignty.
“We aren’t buying what the WHO, WEF, and UN are selling,” Stitt wrote on X. “We value our freedom— and that means keeping their agenda far away from Oklahoma.”