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Trump Threatened With Lawsuit Over Withdrawal from WHO

by Will Jones
22 January 2025 11:11 AM

Donald Trump may face a lawsuit over his day-one decision to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO) because he didn’t get the approval of Congress. Health Policy Watch has the story.

“Trump made a unilateral decision to pull out of WHO. But we joined WHO in 1948 by an Act of Congress. Trump needs Congress’s approval to withdraw,” said Professor Lawrence Gostin, who directs the  O’Neill Institute and is the Chair of Global Health Law at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

“His decision is too catastrophic to be made without Congress and the courts. As Director of a WHO Centre, I am considering a lawsuit,” added Gostin, who also heads the WHO Centre on Global Health Law.

Meanwhile, German Health Minister Karl Lautenbach wants to persuade Trump to change his mind, describing the decision as “a catastrophe for the poorest people on the planet” who need WHO support, such as those in Gaza.

The US is obliged to give a year’s notice of its intention to withdraw from the WHO, yet Trump’s Executive Order directs state officials to “take appropriate measures, with all practicable speed” to “pause the future transfer” of US of Government “funds, support or resources to the WHO”.

The order also recalls all US “personnel or contractors working in any capacity with the WHO”.

A senior WHO official told Health Policy Watch that “it has been a long night”, but that the UN health agency will survive if all its members stick together in the coming days.

The tiny European monarchy of Liechtenstein is the only other country that is not part of the 196-member strong WHO.

Trump’s rationale for withdrawing from the WHO is the same as he advanced during his first Presidency: WHO’s “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” – primarily China.  

Trump also noted that the WHO “continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments”, such as that of China.

Of the 196 WHO member states, the US is by far the largest funder. It is due to pay over $261 million in “assessed contributions” (membership fees) during 2024/5.  

China, the second-largest contributor in terms of assessed contributions, is only due to pay $181 million for the period. As China is still classified as a “developing country”, it benefits from lower rates.

US contribution to WHO in 2023

Worth reading in full.

When signing the executive order, Trump referred to the cost of membership and said “they wanted us back so badly, so we’ll see what happens”. Is it a negotiating tactic to get a better deal?

Tags: ChinaCOVID-19President TrumpWHOWorld Health Organisation

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