President Donald Trump on Monday May 18, threatened to permanently pull US funding from the World Health Organization over the Coronavirus...
In a four-page letter addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, the US President criticized the stages of the body's response to the outbreak of the disease since December.
Trump insisted that the international health agency shares the responsibility for the large number of deaths in the crisis and further threatened to pull US funding permanently and also reconsider US membership in the organization, if it does not commit to “major substantive improvements” within 30 days.
The US President who disclosed that talks on reforming the WHO had already begun, had earlier called the UN health body a "puppet of China".
The letter read in parts;
"It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China.
"My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste.
"It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China.
"My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste."
Trump also criticized the WHO for the "political gamesmanship" of praising China's strict domestic travel restrictions and being "inexplicably against my closing of the United States border."
He highlighted WHO's reaffirmation of "China's now-debunked claim that the Coronavirus could not be transmitted between humans."
This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020
