U.S. cuts all funding and withdraws from the WHO

FPI / January 26, 2026

The Trump Administration has completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the State Department announced Thursday that all funding for, and staffing of, WHO initiatives have ceased over the organization's handling of the Covid pandemic.

President Donald Trump signed the executive order that began the process of withdrawing from the global organization last year, on the first day of his second term.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also cited issues with the organization's failure to adopt urgent reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the political influence of WHO member states.

"Today, the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization, freeing itself from its constraints, as President Trump promised on his first day in office," Rubio and Kennedy said in a joint statement.

"This action responds to the WHO’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to rectify the harm from those failures inflicted on the American people."

The departments claimed the WHO delayed declaring a global public health emergency and pandemic during the early stages of Covid and failed to adopt meaningful reforms to address political influence and poor coordination in the aftermath of the pandemic.

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Free Press International
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