On January 22, the U.S. announced it had completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the country's plan to do so in January 2025. This announcement came four and a half year after Donald Trumo's first attempt to pull his country from the WHO, which was undone by his successor Joe Biden before taking effect. As one of many first-day actions, Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20, 2025, announcing the United States' withdrawal from the WHO due to the organization’s alleged mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic, its “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.” Trump also criticized the organization for demanding “unfairly onerous payments” from the U.S. in comparison to other member states and from China in particular.
Funding for the WHO is split into two types: assessed contribution, membership dues owed by each Member State and determined by the UN, and voluntary contribution, which can be given by Member States and other donors alike. According to the latest data published by the organization, while the U.S. had been the largest contributor to the WHO budget in previous years, the country fell to 7th place in 2024, with a total contribution of $112 million only (compared to $1.28 billion in 2022-2023). This is largely because the WHO determined that most of the country's assessed contribution ($130,1 million for 2024) would not actually be collectible due to a series of executive orders. The WHO therefore only recorded $2 million in assessed contribution from the U.S. in 2024, and $110 million in voluntary contribution. Had the entirerity of the country's contribution been collected, the U.S. would only have been the WHO's fourth biggest contributor in 2024.
In an official statement, the WHO expressed its regret over the U.S. withdrawal, highlighting the organization’s crucial role in protecting the health of the world’s people and the United States’ special role as a founding member and decade-long partner. “We hope that in the future, the United States will return to active participation in WHO. Meanwhile, WHO remains steadfastly committed to working with all countries in pursuit of its core mission and constitutional mandate: the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right for all people” the statement concludes.
