Hours after taking office for a second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Trump had pulled the United States out of the WHO on July 6, 2020, during his first term. Under an Act of Congress enacted in 1948, the move required one year’s notice, and withdrawal never took effect. Immediately after taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s decision.
Trump’s 2020 order stated the WHO mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic, was too influenced by China, especially in its investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 virus, and demanded too much money from U.S. taxpayers.
Money Saver
The move will save taxpayers money. For 2022 and 2023, the U.S. contributed $1.28 billion to WHO, about one-fifth of the organization’s budget.
The order also instructs the Secretary of State to end negotiations on the WHO Pandemic Agreement and amendments to the International Health Regulations, which dictate how governments may respond to disease outbreaks.
The WHO stated it regrets Trump’s executive order and urged the United States to reconsider.
On January 9, 2023, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced a bill in Congress to withdraw from the WHO and repeal the Act of June 14, 1948 that established U.S. membership in the organization. The bill was sent to committee and never reached a House floor vote.
Controversial Pandemic Treaty
In the final week of May 2024, Biden indicated he would support the WHO’s new pandemic treaty. On May 8, attorneys general from 22 states sent Biden a letter stating the treaty would turn WHO into the “world’s governor of public health.” The letter questioned the constitutionality of Biden’s proposed move.
“[The] federal government cannot delegate public health decisions to an international body,” wrote the AGs. “The U.S. Constitution doesn’t vest responsibility for public health policy with the federal government. It reserves those powers for the States. Even if the federal government had such power, Article II, Section 2 requires approval by the United States Senate.”
The letter also raised concerns the treaty could create “the groundwork for a global surveillance infrastructure, ostensibly in the interest of public health, but with the inherent opportunity for control (as with Communist China’s “social credit system”).”
Forty-nine U.S. Senators also sent Biden a letter in May advising against the treaty.
“Some of the over 300 proposals for amendments made by member states would substantially increase the WHO’s emergency powers and constitute intolerable infringements upon U.S. sovereignty,” the letter stated.
House Opposition to Treaty
In September, Republicans and some Democrats in the U.S. House passed the “No W.H.O. Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act.” Bill sponsor Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) read a statement to reporters at the time.
“It’s deeply concerning that the Biden-Harris administration would even consider signing the World Health Organization’s pandemic treaty,” said Tiffany. “We cannot stand by as they attempt to surrender control of our public health system to unelected bureaucrats at the W.H.O. and the UN.”
‘Bad Advice’
“I think the U.S. should withdraw from the WHO and not continue to support this corrupt organization,” said Jane Orient, M.D., the executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, in commenting on Trump’s executive order.
“There was plenty of bad advice about COVID-19 from our own establishment, not just from WHO,” said Orient. “Constitutionally, the U.S. cannot cede authority to a foreign entity. Any terms of a pandemic treaty would have to be enforced by our government. They could use it as a ‘the devil made me do it’ excuse. The Senate would supposedly have to ratify a treaty.”
Lab-Leak Cover-Up
The WHO had an opportunity to prove its worth during the COVID-19 pandemic and failed, abusing its authority, wrote Peter A. McCullough, M.D. in a January 24 post on his Courageous Discourse blog.
“WHO misled the world on the Wuhan lab origins of SARS-CoV-2 by providing no bio-surveillance in the years SARS-CoV-2 was being created and then rejected Admiral Brett Giroir’s selection of three independent scientists to investigate in 2020, wrote McCullough. “Instead, the WHO selected one of the co-conspirators Dr. Peter Daszak who said the virus came from anywhere but the lab after he had been there many times aiding in the project.”
McCullough also stated the agency promoted useless measures such as masking, lockdowns, suppression of early therapeutics, and “unsafe, ineffective” vaccines.
The treaty the WHO tried to push through in May was an attempt to “seize global power,” wrote McCullough.
U.S. Investigation
Orient says she is unsure what effect U.S. WHO withdrawal will have on the continuing investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 virus.
“I don’t know what authority the U.S. has to officially investigate the WHO,” said Orient. “I doubt it would be very cooperative whether the U.S. is a member or not.”
WHO Successes
The WHO did have one notable achievement, the REPLACE program which the organization referenced in its 2023 report, says McCullough.
“Thanks to WHO’s REPLACE initiative, which aims to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the food supply, an additional 13 countries implemented best-practice policies, bringing the total to 53 countries,” McCullough, a cardiologist, told Health Care News.
REPLACE is an acronym for review, promote, legislate, assess, create awareness, and enforce compliance. The WHO has also listed among its successes better control of malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, tropical diseases, and tobacco use.
AnneMarie Schieber ([email protected]) is the managing editor of Health Care News.