The move follows weeks of Trump’s escalating attacks on the U.N. health organization as he has sought to deflect scrutiny of his own administration's slow response to the outbreak.
The U.S. contributes more than any other country to WHO, at more than $400 million per year. Cutting off funds to the group, which has a $4.8 billion annual budget, will be a major blow to the organization as it conducts vaccine trials, distributes test kits and advises governments around the world.
Trump on Tuesday accused WHO of “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus” and called its opposition to U.S. travel restrictions on China in the outbreak’s early months “disastrous.”
While WHO did call such travel bans “ineffective in most situations” at the time, the group did acknowledge that they could help further public health at the beginning of an outbreak, buying countries time "to initiate and implement effective preparedness measures.”
However, the Trump administration squandered time bought by the travel restrictions, failing to ramp up diagnostic testing and prepare the health care system for a surge in coronavirus patients.
Trump himself until just a few weeks ago had also hailed China’s early response to the pandemic, even as public health experts warned the Chinese government was not forthcoming about the novel disease.
At the briefing, the president also continued a recent back-and-forth with state governors, saying his administration will soon be sharing details on plans to reopen the country and he will speak shortly with all 50 governors. He said there could be reopening for some states before May 1, suggesting that more than 20 are faring well. Trump claimed the authority Monday to decide how and when to reopen the economy, but governors from both parties were quick to note they have the primary constitutional responsibility.
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